BOWDEN - The town's longstanding rest stop area is quickly morphing into a new million-dollar site for a Chevron gas station, convenience store and A&W restaurant.
The Bowden Heritage Rest Stop along the south service road next to Highway 2 had been operated by the Town of Bowden since 1982 but provincial funding cutbacks over the past several years have triggered repeated calls by council since 2013 to close it down.
The 3.86-acre parcel of land was sold earlier this year to the Parkland Fuel Corporation for an undisclosed price, paving the way for the new development and demolition of the 37-year-old rest stop.
A development permit was issued on May 16 by the planning authority of Red Deer County, and has a value of $1.5 million.
Construction is now well underway on the new development, which will include a 2,520-square-foot convenience store with a gas bar in front, along with a new 1,500-square-foot A&W restaurant. There will also be a small new playground and picnic table outside, adorned with enhanced landscaping.
Greg Skotheim, the town's chief administration officer, said the former rest stop property could also be a "potential" site for a future cardlock fuelling facility.
"It is quite a large facility," noted Skotheim, adding there are no plans for a new rest stop of similar design as the old facility. He noted the new development will offer all the required and desired services for Highway 2 travellers.
Leroy McKinnon, Parkland's senior specialist for corporate communications, said the new Bowden facility is scheduled to open in mid-December of this year.
The Bowden development is one of several new rest stop facilities being constructed across the province.
Last spring the former provincial NDP government announced two new rest stops would be constructed along the Yellowhead Highway west of Highway 43, with another along Highway 2 at Wolf Creek, just north of Lacombe. The cost of these new facilities was estimated to be around $20 million.
