(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Alessia Proietti

Reports in 2023

Red Deer city council revisits Capstone to Bower Ponds Bridge and Aquatic Centre projects

Dec 6, 2022 | 3:14 PM

Red Deer city council brought back the discussion of the “Capstone to Bower Ponds Bridge” and Aquatics Centre during 2023-24 Capital and Operating budget deliberations.

The 2025-2032 Capital Plan currently focuses on infrastructure rehabilitation and replacement, including repairs to the CPR Bridge and Centennial Plaza Park.

READ: CPR bridge repair and Centennial Plaza Park redevelopment among proposed in Red Deer’s capital budget

Council approved on Monday that administration put together a briefing on the “Capstone to Bower Ponds Bridge” project, including timing to complete the initial design work, in the first quarter of 2023.

On Friday, Councillor Victor Doerksen proposed amending the 10-year Capital Plan to include the project, stating there are multiple possibilities to name the bridge, such as the Truth and Reconciliation Bridge or after a resident as a legacy project.

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“If there was one single action that you could take that would spur development, that would get us to our strategic plan, in my mind, this is it. You build a bridge there, it will come. You can throw out all your surveys, all your benchmarks,” he said.

Councillor Dianne Wyntjes questioned how a second pedestrian bridge would coincide with the CPR Bridge. City Manager Tara Lodewyk said the bridge, with a high level cost estimate of $25 million, would further connect the already popular trail system in Red Deer.

Councillor Kraymer Barnstable asked for an update on the gondola project proposed this March by Prairie Sky Gondola.

READ: Gondola being planned to connect Capstone with Bower Ponds

John Sennema, the City’s Manager of Land & Economic Development, stated the company had some challenges with their project in Edmonton and was put on hold and “got shut down, essentially”. He said the company is revaluating how they will proceed with their investments and the Red Deer project.

Regarding the Aquatics Centre, council approved for administration to return to chambers with a report by the fourth quarter of 2023 to address potential timing of the project within the Capital Plan and to explore funding options.

Councillor Vesna Higham proposed on Friday to amend the capital budget to add $40 million over three consecutive years for an Aquatic Centre.

In the works for over 20 years, the Michener North location was chosen for the centre in July 2021 following council’s approval of the project’s scope and design. The facility is supposed to include a 53 metre (m) x 25m pool with 10 lanes, ranging in depth from 2.5m to 3.8m with diving platforms at the deep end and two 1.5m movable bulkheads.

READ: Aquatic centre to be built at Michener North

Councillor Higham said Red Deer is one of the only communities in the province without a competitive 50m pool, referencing how local Olympic swimmer Rebecca Smith had to train in Calgary as a result. She also said she doesn’t want the roughly $5 million already spent on preliminary design for the Aquatic Centre to go to waste.

READ: Red Deer swimmer Rebecca Smith earns medals with national teammates

The City said if put on the Capital Plan, the project would increase their debt usage to 90 per cent of the provincial limit, with operating costs of $4.9 million annually.

General Manager of Community Services Sarah Tittemore said that to get federal and provincial funding, a more detailed design proving the project is shovel-ready would be required.

Councillor Higham emphasized actively pursuing corporate sponsorships before building the centre.

City Manager Tara Lodewyk cautioned council with putting the project in the capital plan as it sets expectations to the public and will be hard to remove from the budget once put on.

Council also approved on the final day of budget deliberations for administration to review the Debt Policy by the fourth quarter of 2023 and to review and research waste disposal to energy opportunities with a report by sometime next year.