City Manager Allan Seabrooke says any additional investment in Red Deer Regional Hospital expansion would be welcomed by the community (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Troy Gillard

City Manager suggests…

Regional projects could benefit from provincial infrastructure investment

Jul 2, 2020 | 10:30 AM

Red Deer’s city manager sees opportunities for projects that benefit the entire region to benefit from a boost in provincial infrastructure funding.

“We’ll get through COVID-19 and the economy will recover and when it does Red Deer is still obviously a good regional hub,” Allan Seabrooke says.

Premier Jason Kenney announced Alberta’s Recovery Plan on Monday that includes a $10 billion investment in infrastructure to build things like hospitals, schools, and roads, bridges and overpasses.

Seabrooke feels an obvious candidate for additional investment is Red Deer Regional Hospital, which received $100 million from the province earlier this year for the first phase of expansion.

“Obviously, any funds that would be provided to create some additional expansion at the hospital would be really welcomed by our residents,” Seabrooke says. “Red Deer has been underserviced. The cath (cardiac catheterization) lab has been mentioned, and there are other needs given the population the hospital serves for the region. So we would certainly continue to advocate to the province that we think that’s an excellent place if the province is looking to invest to help diversify the economy and create jobs – the whole economic stimulus that the premier talked about.”

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Another possibility Seabrooke mentioned is the long talked about North Highway Connector. The project is not currently included in the city’s 10-Year Capital Plan but is one Seabrooke says would be beneficial down the road.

“You can always do that project in phases, so if the province was interested in a project that would help finance that bridge, that’s something we could certainly look at,” he suggested. “It will eventually need to be done as Red Deer continues to grow. It didn’t become as high a priority (at this time) given population growth slowed substantially over the last number of years, but it’ll come back.”

Seabrooke says there are also “obvious needs” at the Red Deer Regional Airport that additional provincial funding could help address.

“I know the airport authority has plans on their books for expanding the services and number of businesses in the aeronautical industry that could locate out of the airport. And there’s many millions of dollars’ worth of work that is going to be needed there over the next decade. So I’m sure the province will be having conversations with the airport authority for that.”

Upgrades to the Westerner Park Centrium that are currently underway are another project Seabrooke says could benefit from an investment by the province.

Seabrooke says city officials will continue to meet with the province to make their pitch for infrastructure funding, which is important given Red Deer will be competing for it with other municipalities.

“We have an excellent relationship with both our MLAs. The mayor and council and myself, we have ongoing meetings to discuss the needs in Red Deer and we’ll certainly continue to do that. I know they’re very strong supporters of us at the provincial table so that Red Deer gets our fair share of those dollars that are going across the province.”

Seabrooke cites the previously announced Red Deer Justice Centre, drug court and permanent shelter as examples of how The City’s advocacy efforts are paying off.

“It’s pretty much an endless list. There always are more projects than money available, so we will take whatever comes our way.”