More Recent Springbrook and Area News

July 12, 2010
New Development Being Built in Gasoline Alley
A new 10-pump Petro-Canada service station and convenience store along with a liquor store are under construction in Gasoline Alley as the first phase of a larger development and are expected to open in September. A larger commercial building and stand-alone nationally-branded restaurant are the next buildings planned for the 3-acre site as the next phase of development. A third stage could include a multi-bay strip mall, office condos or a motel planned for construction in 2011. Located on the corner of Leva Avenue and Lantern Street, it is considered a prime location, especially when the new Highway 2 flyover is built.

July 11, 2010
Families Enjoy Regional Multiplex Grand Opening Despite Rain
The grand opening yesterday of the impressive multi-use Penhold Regional Multiplex attracted plenty of families and individuals from the the area around the town including several from Springbrook in spite of it being a fairly rainy day. Plenty of activities including a pancake breakfast, afternoon barbecue, monster truck rides, entertainment and lazer tag for the kids were all very well received by the 1,200 to 1,500 people attended.
Many people came just to tour the modern facility with its new arena, gymnasium, library, running track, concession and dance studio. A fitness centre, meeting rooms, bouldering wall and town municipal office will soon be developed. There were also a number of displays including one by the Harvard Historical Aviation Society.

July 6, 2010
Penhold Multiplex Opens on Saturday
The Town of Penhold officially opens its new $23 million 100,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art Multiplex on Saturday with several activities planned. The complex includes an NHL-sized hockey arena, 6,000 sq. ft. regional library, gymnasium, climbing wall, running track, dance studio, 4,400 sq. ft. fitness centre, cafe and municipal offices. The site also includes football and soccer fields. Activities get underway Saturday with a pancake breakfast at 8:00 am, hot air balloon rides, monster truck rides, a kids fair, car show, 4 pm BBQ and entertainment. Tours of the facility are free but there is a modest charge for other activities including the meals. Construction of the Multiplex began in early 2009 and received funding from all three levels of government.

July 2, 2010
Native Residential School Children Remembered
Over 200 people attended a ceremony at Fort Normandeau recently to honour the 325 First Nations and Metis children who had attended the Red Deer Industrial/Residential School across the Red Deer River from the fort between 1893 and 1919. The celebration opened with prayers and pipe ceremonies leading into reading the names of all the children who had been brought to the school. Some of the children who came from as far away as Manitoba never returned to their families. Many escaped and simply disappeared. Many succumbed to disease, especially an outbreak of the Spanish flu. A small graveyard lies near the former school grounds where at least 12 people are buried, some of them students. But the location of others who died at the school are not as yet known. Plans are underway to create a permanent memorial at the site. Red Deer County had required an archeological assessment of the area a couple of years ago prior to approving a proposed development nearby, which in turn, created a greater awareness of the existence of the residential school.

June 30, 2010
Penholder Inn Fire Caused by Cigarette
The fire that engulfed the office and bar at the Penholder Inn in Penhold last Sunday and caused an estimated $375,000 in damage has been determined to have been caused by an improperly disposed of cigarette. The upstairs of the building and the adjoining liquor store only sustained smoke damage. No one was staying at the inn and no one was injured. Firefighters and equipment from both the town and Red Deer County fought the fire and were able to save the building. It is believed that the hotel was built in the 1930s.

June 19, 2010
Local Centre Trains Workers in Power Industry
The FortisAlberta Employee Development Centre, located in Red Deer County west of the city, trains electrical power industry workers both in the theory and practical skills of working with high-voltage power distribution infrastructure. The 40-acre site currently consists of 30,000 sq. ft. of building space, the only training substation in Canada and a field of power poles for practical training. A couple of enclosures are planned for this fall for field equipment so workers can train during inclement weather.

June 17, 2010
Plasco Garbage-to-Energy Plant Gets $10 Million Boost
The Climate Change and Emissions Management Corp. of Alberta has announced a $10 million grant to Plasco Energy Group for a $100 million waste-to-energy gasification plant proposed for Red Deer County at the Horn Hill Transfer Site, provided that the company commits the full funding to the project by September. Plasco is still waiting final approval of $24 million from the federal Green Infrastructure Fund and debt financing through the federal Export Development program to proceed with the 200-tonne-a-day facility. The company hopes to start construction this summer and have the plant built 18 months later. The plant would be fully operational 6 months after that. Garbage would be supplied by 9 municipalities including Red Deer County, the City of Red Deer, the towns of Innisfail, Sylvan Lake, Blackfalds and Penhold. The first-of-its-kind facility is expected to generate international attention once completed.

June 14, 2010
'The Bunker' Woosh Golf Course Now Open
The short-flight 'woosh' 9-hole golf course, named 'The Bunker at Springbrook', is now open at the northwest corner of Highway 2A and Airport Drive after a ribbon-cutting ceremony today that included Red Deer County mayor Earl Kinsella and Penhold mayor Julie King. A unique concept in Canada, 'woosh' balls are lighter than regular golf balls and travel only one-third the distance. The company promotes the course as a fun family activity that is great for novice as well as experienced golfers. Proceeds from the practice range will go to the Boys and Girls Club of Red Deer. The grand opening of the course is set for July 2.
City Transit Terminal Parkade Named After Sorensen
The city of Red Deer has named the new downtown parkade and transit terminal to open this summer 'Sorensen Station', after transportation pioneer Gordon Sorensen. Sorensen pioneered several inter-community bus lines in Central Alberta in the 1930s, 40s and 50s including 16 trips a day between Red Deer and the Penhold airbase during the Second World War. His lines and buses were ultimately sold and became Prairie Bus Lines, Red Deer Transit and a major part of Greyhound service in Central Alberta.
Enthusiasts to Preserve Transportation Heritage
A group of railway and transit enthusiasts are eager to preserve the history of ground transportation in the Red Deer area by means of two major community and tourist centres, one downtown and the other on the southern outskirts of the city in the Gasoline Alley area. The Forth Junction Heritage Society also wants to connect the various disconnected historic rail icons scattered about the area including the abandoned Alberta Central Railway Mintlaw steel railway trestle northwest of Springbrook and the ACR pier along Taylor Drive in Red Deer. In addition the society, presided by Paul Pettypiece of Springbrook, want to explore future transportation and create a replica of a historic passenger steam locomotive that once ran between Calgary and Edmonton -- the Chinook. The project could take up to 20 years but the group is hoping to have something on the ground in three to five years.

June 10, 2010
Highway Reopens After Train Derailment
Highway 2A between McKenzie Road and Lantern Street immediately south of the city has been reopened after being closed for two days as a result of a train derailment early Tuesday morning parallel to the highway. Five cars and a locomotive at the back of a south-bound Canadian Pacific Railway train left the tracks and did considerable damage to the track. Repairs and cleanup required the closure of the highway although there were no injuries related to the incident.

June 5, 2010
Four Winners at Annual Heritage Awards
Of the 10 nominees for the 9th annual Central Alberta Heritage Awards, four were chosen as this year's recipients Friday -- historian Michael Dawe's weekly articles in the Red Deer Express, the 1909 Dickson Store Museum, 1907 Gothic-style St. Luke's Anglican Church in Red Deer and the Riverside Meadows (North Red Deer) Story Stones project. Other nominees included the ACR Mintlaw steel railway trestle purchased by Red Deer County last year, City Hall Park, Innisfail Historical Village Role of the Railroad exhibit, the J.F. Gaetz residence in Red Deer, pro wrestling historian Vern May and artist David Plumtree for 12 historical watercolour houses on Red Deer's 56th Street.


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