(Photo: The City of Red Deer)

By Sheldon Spackman and Troy Gillard

Goodwill Gesture

Pride crosswalk in downtown Red Deer becomes permanent

Jul 22, 2020 | 3:17 PM

Red Deer’s downtown Pride crosswalk is now a permanent fixture.

A temporary rainbow-coloured crosswalk had been painted each of the last four summers running north-south across Ross Street near Little Gaetz Avenue.

On Tuesday, city crews installed the new permanent crosswalk running east-west across Little Gaetz.

“It means inclusivity and it means we’re trying to take one step forward at least, and it shines a little bit of colour into a city that is in dire need of some,” suggests Bobbi-Jo L’Hirondelle with the Central Alberta Pride Society.

“I hope people understand that the rainbow is for everybody and it’s not just a symbol of gay culture. It’s also a symbol of life and love and happiness and kindness and I hope they would carry on forth with being kind to one another, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation, because we are all one people and we all do have the same kind of respect and dignity of the next person down the line.”

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The cost for the new crosswalk was about $10,000, according to Kristy Svoboda, Director of Human Resources at the City of Red Deer, which shared the cost of the project with the Central Alberta Pride Society.

“The decision was made that it would be more fiscally sustainable, and also sustainable in terms of the actual crosswalk, to have it on a more permanent basis,” explained Svoboda, noting that the new crosswalk has an expected lifespan of eight to 10 years.

“We certainly have had our challenges with weather and vandalism. So the decision was made in collaboration with Central Alberta Pride to put down a permanent crosswalk.”

Despite Red Deer city council not voting to ban conversion therapy earlier this year, L’Hirondelle sees the installation of the new crosswalk as an olive branch of sorts.

“I hope by doing this that they (council) will look to making our community a better place,” adds L’Hirondelle. “Whether that be banning conversion therapy down the road… I hope that they will see that as a way to build that olive branch even stronger.”

“My hope would be that we see the crosswalk as a symbol of our community’s commitment to being welcoming and inclusive and celebrating diversity,” Svoboda says. “At The City of Red Deer, we are definitely in support of our LGBTQ2S+ community and value all dimensions of diversity.”

Pride Week in Red Deer begins August 9 with a number of virtual events planned in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.