The City of Red Deer is two decades too late in planning for the redevelopment of the downtown railway lands, says a Red Deer citizen concerned about preserving the city’s rail history.
Paul Pettypiece, a member of the local Fourth Junction Society dedicated to keeping alive the city’s railway heritage, attended an open house Tuesday that starts the ball rolling on a 20-year plan for the region around Superstore.
While the area northwest of the downtown, which includes the Saputo dairy plant, Cannery Row Bingo, the city’s water treatment plant, and new Edges project on the Red Deer River, is predominantly commercial and industrial, the vision is to make it mixed residential/commercial in future.
According to the City’s Greater Downtown Action Plan, Red Deer’s downtown cannot be revitalized unless more people live, work and play/shop there, said the plan’s chair Shirley Hocken.
She sees families living in a high-density neighbourhood near the river, within walking distance of playgrounds and shops.
Pettypiece believes this kind of redevelopment planning should have been done before the railway tracks were ripped out in 1990.
“If the city had some forethought,” he said, a bike trail, or green corridor, could have been created between the pedestrian former CP Rail bridge and the downtown CP Rail station.
“The trail would have followed the path of the former rail tracks, preserving this bit of city heritage.
But all the land was, unfortunately, sold to private developers, said Pettypiece, making a new trail now all but impossible.
“Some of the landowners are not likely to be moving anytime soon,” he added.
While city planners realize that the water treatment plant and industries such as Saputo will likely remain downtown for the long term, the area’s redevelopment must planned for, otherwise it will always remain the same, said Haley Mountstephen, who did not work for the city when this land was sold to private developers.
Hocken believes the city saw a need, at the time, to make some money back.
In any case, she believes there will always be a place in the area’s future, for commercial ventures such as Superstore. “You will always need a shopping centre.”
Devon Snideman owns an automotive service shop in the area, and wonders if it will fit with the high-density vision.
Snideman also wonders how parking will be handled. Unlike the small vehicles shown in many of the photographic examples of townhouse-style developments city planners are seeking public input on, Red Deer residents drive big trucks and SUVs, he said. While underground garages could be built, Snideman predicted “the big hang-up will be parking.”
Local residents can comment until June 30 on various visions for the area, and also enter a naming contest for the region online at www.reddeer.ca/namethisdistrict.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com