INNISFAIL – The town is set to move boldly forward to enhance its urban spaces, notably its eastern gateway entrance, in a move considered an important “now” under the recently reviewed Strategic Plan.
Specifically, the town is beginning Phase 1 of its four-phase 50th Street Gateway Landscaping Project adjacent to McDonald’s at a cost this year of $169,200.
“That is a now, and it’s outlined in our 2020 budget,” said town CAO Todd Becker, adding the Downtown Clock Project is also a “now," along with the gateway electronic sign, the latter being a partnership with the Innisfail & District Chamber of Commerce. Installation for both projects was initially scheduled for last fall but timelines were pushed ahead to this spring.
The clock project, approved last summer and being placed beside the ATB building on Bankers Corner, comes with a total cost of $35,000, half of which is coming from the town while the remaining $18,000 is from private sources, including $12,000 saved by the former Innisfail Downtown Business Association and $6,000 from the Rotary Club of Innisfail. The gateway electronic sign for the intersection of 50th Street and Highway 2A, which was also approved last year by council, has a startup price tag of up to $100,000, split evenly by the town and chamber.
In the meantime, the town will continue its exhaustive review process of its community gathering and athletic spaces, which will include collecting additional public feedback. The final copy of a needs assessment is expected to be in council’s hands by March.
Mayor Jim Romane noted bullishly earlier this month that council has some “serious” planning to do this year about future facilities for recreation and sports.
“I think we are going to kick off with ideas and thoughts in that regard to get something going for the next year or two. We are looking at potentials for facilities like a recreational field house thing, just ideas but we will be doing a lot of soul searching with the community to see what they want to see,” said Romane. “We’re at the point where I think everybody is thinking, "we got to get something.' "
“We have to put some new energy into the place. The skateboard park isn’t going to be enough for the next five years,” he added.
But with the economy still struggling, and the provincial government increasingly watching spending, is now the right time to think of large capital recreational projects?
“Multiplex is not a good description of what we are thinking,” said Romane. “Certainly we want to do something that has more than one use. I guess that can be classed as a multiplex. That word scares people. We’re not looking at having to replace the pool, curling or skating rinks.”
He said the town could be looking at a facility that could offer indoor soccer, a walking trail, or a winter and summer training venue for soccer, baseball and lacrosse.
“We will be doing some public input and open houses and talk about it and see what people want,” said Romane. “That’s what I want to do this year is get this whole ball rolling and say, ‘hey, what do we want to do next year?' I don’t give a damn about the economy or anything else right now. We can’t look back.
“I guess the way I look at it anyways is that we can’t get down on this economy. We’ve got to keep growing,” added the mayor. “If we want this community to thrive and keep going forward here, whether it’s to encourage younger families to stay here or come here, they want to see facilities.”
However, others on town council are choosing to be more pragmatic about embracing new costly recreational facilities. Coun. Jean Barclay said while she understands the community will have future wants and needs, which may include a field house or multiplex, she added there is still much more work to do before making those types of decisions.
“We have to be very cognizant of the tax burden on the building cost and operating cost on a facility like that before we move forward and the implications it has,” said Barclay.
Coun. Gavin Bates wants to wait until the needs assessment process is completed, particularly the final round of public feedback, before advocating any point of view.
“There are so many questions yet. We don’t know,” said Bates. “The UCP is still finding their way. We don’t know the future of what their grants are going to look like. We can only guess that they are probably going to be harder to get.”
