Snowmobile tracks and dead weeds are about all you can see when you look out across the empty field along Highway 2A in front of Hawkridge Estates. But that’s about to change.
Snowmobile tracks and dead weeds are about all you can see when you look out across the empty field along Highway 2A in front of Hawkridge Estates. But that’s about to change.
Penhold has been buzzing with excitement after the Province revealed the town will soon get a supermarket and pharmacy as part of a large strip mall plaza in the works.
Construction of the anchor businesses, valued at $3 million, is expected to start by May and will hopefully be completed by November, said developer Steve Busse, who will manage the 7,500 square foot building on the east side of the property.
"We’ve been looking at the Penhold area for about a year now," Busse said, adding he hopes to use 3,000 square feet for a pharmacy and lease out the rest to dentists, doctors or other professionals. "Overall the town is probably in a stage where Blackfalds was five years ago.
"You have to get in early."
The 16,000 square feet grocery building will house Penhold Family Foods and include 3,000 square feet for lease.
Busse says the pharmacy will be independently run, though he will likely choose a brand name to work under, noting this allows access to a buying group that can get better deals.
An agreement is in place to further subdivide the center segment of the Hawkridge property to allow another strip mall segment on the side closest to Highway 2A, he said.
Mayor Dennis Cooper said companies have already begun to perform exploratory drilling on site to better estimate building costs – a last step before additional real estate deals close. Town administration noted they have yet to receive any formal building permits.
As development chugs along several locals sounded off about why they’re looking forward to the new multi-tenant retail build.
"I think it will be good for the town," said Luke MacNeill, 24, a heavy equipment operator from the Maritimes who now lives in Penhold with relatives. "The last thing you wanna do at 8 p.m. when your kid’s got a fever is to have to drive to Red Deer just to get cough medicine."
MacNeill says he likes the small town feel of Penhold and has settled in quickly after moving here in November.
"It’s a tight-knit little community," he said. "It reminds me of home. I’m from P.E.I. where everyone knows everyone."
He says he will appreciate the convenience of nearby amenities.
"I can’t count how many times I’ve come back from shopping in Red Deer only to forget one thing and have to drive right back in," he said.
Lynette Heywood, a bartender who also owns the Drunk’n Monk tattoo parlour can see a lot of benefits coming along with a fresh slate of businesses springing up.
"With the amount of growth over the last few years this is something we need," she said. "It will be right across from my house. So when I run out of butter I can just run across the street."
Heywood is glad she soon won’t have to pack up her six-year-old and two-year-old boys and drive to Innisfail or Red Deer if she realizes she forgot lettuce for tacos at the last minute.
"What we have is a glorified convenience store," she said. "The prices are not competitive."
Though safety concerns include hoping speed limit signs will be clearly marked, as a business owner she says if a bank opens in the strip it will allow her to do nightly cash drops instead of leaving money on the property.
Joan Keough, a resident of three years, says she likes the slow pace of Penhold but is also a fan of the new pace of development.
"It’s good for the town and it’s good for the people," she said. "Penhold is growing so fast and it is family oriented."
John Murray has been a resident since 1984 and says he’ll frequent the shops if the right ones get put in.
"It’s about time," he said. "There’s nothing here."
But even with the new commercial project, he still can’t see the nature of the town swaying significantly.
"I have no objections to it," he said. "I don’t think it’s going to change much, but I don’t know."
