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Every
business needs a presence online . . .  Consulting, Research, Design netMagazine Publishing Copywriting, Editing, Mapping Central Alberta Websites website publishing & development 403-886-2640 info@centralalbertawebsites.com Publisher of  and webmaster for the following Red Deer County Recreation & Culture Boards: Division 3 Division 2 * * * Place your ad on this page or any page on this site for as little as $3 per month phone 403-886-2640 or email: paul@abundancenet.com Rates |
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Trinidad
Drilling, operator of the Trinidad Training and Fitness Centre, has
revealed that the former recreation centre is listed for sale at $1.8
million. The 42,000 sq. ft. facility on 6 acres of land includes a
gymnasium, renovated fitness area that was once a bowling alley, the
Springbrook Community Centre that was once a movie theatre, a
convenience store and a former restaurant. The building was constructed
in the early 1950s for NATO trainees and was absorbed in 1995 by
developers who purchased the former military base. Trinidad purchased
the facility in 2007.
The
Town of Penhold has sent a request to Chinooks Edge School Division to
have the new proposed regional high school locate at the new multiplex
site. A plan to replace River Glen School in Red Deer with a Grade 7 to
12 regional school having a capacity of 500 students southwest of the
city has been in the works for several years but has been stalled by the
provincial government. Penhold is one of three locations being
considered. The others are Springbrook and Liberty Park immediately west
of Gasoline Alley. A decision on location is waiting for the results of
a couple of provincial studies including the Red Deer Regional Planning
Study that is looking at the needs of public and Catholic schools in the
Red Deer area.
Street
Signs Change, New Entrance Sign Coming
When
Trinidad Drilling purchased the former recreation centre as an oilpatch
training facility a few years ago, the economy was booming and there was
high demand for preparing potential workers for employment in the
industry. When the economy slowed down, Trinidad Training and Fitness
faced a double whammy. Not only was there no demand to train workers,
discretionary income reduced dramatically so fewer people in the
community were taking advantage of the recreation and fitness
opportunity. As a result, the company has put the facility up for sale.
Meanwhile,
the pub and restaurant closed recently, as did the convenience store
until further notice. The only part of the facility still functioning is
the community centre occupying the former theatre.
The
Red Deer Regional Airport reports that 170 passengers flew out of the
airport in January compared to only 90 a year earlier, a number
that is closer to pre-recession levels. The reduced number of passengers
in 2009 were barely sufficient to qualify the airport for future funding
of capital projects. This year, the airport is applying for $6 million
for capital improvements including runway paving, lighting upgrades and
an addition to the maintenance building. In 2009, $750,000 in funding
was provided for a new plow truck, sweeper and snow blower which have
all been received.
Paul
Pettypiece of Springbrook made a presentation to the Central
Alberta Historical Society yesterday on the history and future of trails
in Central Alberta. From ancient north-south corridors, he showed how
the fur trade influenced east-west transportation and the development of
early communities. He continued with how the arrival of the railway in
Calgary created special significance for the historic Calgary-Edmonton
Trail just west of Springbrook. He also talked about the progress of the
Trans Canada Trail between Ponoka and Penhold and introduced the Forth
Junction Project concept, a proposed major two-venue tourism and
community attractor that will celebrate trail, train and transit
transportation systems from ancient times into the future.
Officials
at Air Spray Aviation Services, an air tanker forest fire suppression
company based at the Red Deer Regional Airport, are reporting that there
has been a slow average growth of about 10% in both the number of fires
and the size of fires, especially in British Columbia, that they believe
is due to climate change. On average about 2 million hectares of forest
go up in flames in Canada each year, almost double the amount in the
1980s. The fire fighting season has also grown dramatically at around
150 days from 120 days a few years ago as a result of the weather
getting warmer in the spring, staying warmer later in the year and less
precipitation.
The
Connections
would be made with the future river park system, the city trail system
and an interpretation centre celebrating the history of the Mintlaw
trestle and the Alberta Central Railway. The park would be one of four
unique features of a larger project that would include a
retail-entertainment-heritage centre in downtown Red Deer, a replication
of a famous steam locomotive that once served the Calgary-Edmonton
corridor and Canada's largest historical model railway museum.
Red
Deer County is being credited with being the first rural municipality in
Alberta to approve a detailed heritage management plan designed to
identify, preserve and protect historical buildings and sites throughout
the county. During the process, 88 potential historic sites were
surveyed and 27 have been included in an initial inventory. Recently the
county agreed to purchase the Mintlaw railway trestle as a future
historic resource. The province has already designated a number of sites
as historic, including Markerville Creamery, the Stephansson House and
the Dickson Store. The report recommends that a heritage advisory board
and heritage officer be created. It also suggests that historical zones
could be developed.
