DIDSBURY - Although no cost was mentioned, council received a presentation from Jeff Schurek of ISL Engineering regarding a very ambitious project for the grounds around the Didsbury Memorial Complex at the regular meeting on Sept. 27.
“We're thinking of a central park space,” Schurek told council. “ A park that basically the whole community could gather in. It could be a central community connection point. We wanted to make sure it was a destination—a destination for both the community as well as a regional context.
“We felt to do that we needed to have some unique features. In addition, we wanted those spaces to be multi-functional so they could handle uses today as well as future uses.”
Shurek circulated an architectural drawing of the area along with pictures of many of the areas.
The design includes: a washroom/storage building, group firepit area, patio space, misting area, basketball and volleyball courts, trails, tennis/pickleball courts, Japanese gardens, skate park, adventure play area, zip line and more.
Shurek said they came up with the plans after consulting with stakeholders as well as members of the public through an open meeting and an online survey.
“The public meeting had about 44 people,” he said, “most of whom were very excited at the prospect of some changes. We had everybody from young children filling in surveys, all the way up to people who had definitely been in the community for a long time and thought that it was a good idea to actually have some changes in the community as well.
“We took the comments from that forum and the comments from the survey, and took two plans that were the concepts and took the best features, and we amalgamated them into the final plan you see in front of you.”
Shurek said the plan was a draft “final” plan, which meant there was still room to make change.
Surek noted that access to the complex would be improved. He also said that the number of parking stalls would remain about the same.
The area would also see the addition of more landscaping with trees planted on islands in the parking lot as well as throughout the grounds.
Mayor Rick Mousseau said the designs are just an early step in a long process but it's good to have an early design.
“It's going to take time,” said Mousseau. “It'll be done in phases.”
The next step for the project is a final design memo, which would be brought to council in late October.
Plans for the Memorial Complex grounds have been in the works since April of this year. The need for the development of the plan was identified in the 2013 Didsbury Recreational and Culture Master Plan.
There has been no word on what the cost for the project will be as of yet. “Once all elements of the project are agreed upon, then ISL will proceed with costing the project as a whole,” said Nicole Aasen, manager of community services for Didsbury.
“We expect to have a pretty comprehensive cost to present to council when the plan goes for final approval.”
Aasen said the plan is nearly complete and approval of the outlying plan will likely take place at a council meeting in late October or early November.
The project would be phased in over three to five years pending approval from council.
“There is not a firm timeline as to when the project will begin,” she said. “The focus for 2016 was the development of the plan itself. Future budget years will include the capital costs for phases of this plan to be implemented.”
Funding for the project would come from a combination of reserves, grants and fundraising, she said.
