By Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Curtis encourages continued lobbying for hospital expansion

Feb 7, 2019 | 12:28 PM

Craig Curtis used one of his final public appearances as Red Deer’s City Manager to rally the troops in the fight for hospital expansion.

Curtis told Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce members at a luncheon Wednesday to continue pressuring politicians over the desperate need for the proposed $750 million expansion at Red Deer Regional Hospital.

He said the fact that doctors themselves are telling everyone that current facilities are inadequate shows that, “we are in fairly serious trouble.”

Advocacy by city council, Curtis feels, has done much to put the issue on the province’s radar. But he added that only continued pressure from the public will help make sure it stays there.

Curtis also took time Wednesday to reflect on his four-decade career that is coming to end with his retirement on March 3.

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Outside of a few years in Ontario, Curtis spent the bulk of his career in Red Deer and says the changes he’s seen are quite something.

“I think the city has been particularly effective, over the four decades I’ve been around, in actually developing vision, and implementing them over a fairly long period of time,” he said.

“Examples are the relocation of the Westerner, Waskasoo Park and the constant additions and enhancements to that, as well as the planning and the commitment that they’ve continued to make throughout the process for the Canada Winter Games, because those are the big ticket items.”

Curtis says it’s been stirring to see Red Deer grow from just under 40,000 residents when he arrived to over 100,000 now.

“It’s been exiting and exhilarating to see the things that you plan as the city grows, which it has grown enormously, actually happen. And it’s because council has been committed to ideas and carrying those ideas through. Now, administration can put forward ideas, but in many communities they put forward the ideas and they kind of die on the vine. In Red Deer it’s been a constant process of re-affirming, and that’s been good, that’s why I came back.”

Curtis has seen plenty of economic ups and downs during his career and admitted the latest downturn has been especially difficult.

 “It’s been a more intense downturn, and the pickup has not been as quick and so we’ve had to make some adjustments to the 10-year capital plan Some projects that people want us to do now, they need to be postponed, so we’ll see how that plays out over the next year, year or two,” he noted. 

“The message in one of my quotes that I gave was ‘even though you’re in tough times, keep your eye on the future where you want to go, and just hang tough because it can happen.’ With any of our projects, at some stage we didn’t know whether we were going to build the Centrium, and it took a decade. And the railway relocation it took 15 years, so it’s great to see how these things get outset and see how they continue.”

Curtis admits it’s a bit nerve-racking to be heading into retirement after such a long career. He has some words of advice for his successor as City Manager.  

“Make sure there is a vision. That’s, of course, primarily council but it’s up the administration to execute and keep reminding of the direction that we’re heading as the council and administration are changing.”