Monday, Aug. 22 is the day for which people in Fort Macleod have been
waiting for five years.
The province will turn the sod at 11 a.m. for the $122-million Alberta
Public Security and Law Enforcement Training Centre.
“It’s great,” Fort Macleod Chamber of Commerce president Srecko Ponjavic
said. “Obviously the sooner the better. This is the event that people
have been waiting to see. It’s the event that’s going to be the trigger
for investment in Fort Macleod.”
Town of Fort Macleod economic development officer Martin Ebel also
welcomed the news.
“I’m thrilled,” Ebel said. “I think it’s absolutely fantastic news.”
Livingstone-Macleod MLA Evan Berger announced Monday that Infrastructure
Minster Ray Danyluk and Solicitor General Frank Oberle will conduct the
ceremony at the college site.
Lunch and refreshments will be served following the sod-turning at the
site, 2.1 kilometres south on Highway 2 from the junction of Highway 2
and Highway 3.
“This is when the promise turns into reality,” Ponjavic said. “This is
huge, Any time that you drop that kind of money and investment into a
community this size, it’s absolutely huge. It’s going to be a catalyst
for growth.”
Mayor Shawn Patience has been involved with the police college project
since 2005 and Monday said the sod-turning was another important step.
“It’s something we’ve been waiting for for quite a while,” Patience
said. “I’m happy to see it move forward.”
Patience said events such as the Town of Fort Macleod transferring to
the province the 320 acres on which the police college will be built;
the sod-turning ceremony and the actual construction are all important.
“It’s been a long time coming and perhaps the sod-turning is somewhat
anticlimactic for some, but it is good to see none the less,” Patience
said. “I think it’s important to get some work done on the site.”
The plan laid out by Oberle is to train 250 police recruits, 250
Sheriffs and Corrections officers, 250 community peace officers and 600
professional development students each year.
The plan in 2006 was to train 400 full-time recruits and 1,000
professional development students each year.
The college will include a residence that can house 270 students. That’s
down from the capacity of 380 students in the original plans.
The facility will include classrooms, a shooting range, a driving track,
gymnasium, running track and eating facilities.
Ponjavic said the investment by other people in Fort Macleod will begin
immediately.
“I think it starts now,” Ponjavic said. “The thing with the police
college is it has been promised, promised, promised, but with no action.”
The government first announced in August 2006 Fort Macleod had been
selected as the site of the police college, following an intense bidding
process.
In subsequent years the project stalled as the government failed to
attract a company willing to take on the entire cost of the project.
Last February Premier Ed Stelmach came to Fort Macleod and said the
government would fund the entire $122-million and build the police
college on its own.
In March, the government announced the money was in the budget over a
three-year period.
Ebel said the sod-turning will send a positive message to people inside
and outside the community.
“I think it’s excellent new,” Ebel said. “I know that in the town there
has been a fair bit of scepticism that the project is moving ahead.”
Ebel said while there has been considerable work on the project since
March it has not been visible to the public. The sod-turning is one more
important milestone.
“It’s a commitment,” Ponjavic agreed. “It’s a firm commitment. They
wouldn’t be turning the sod if they didn’t have the money in place and
weren’t committed to building it.”
Ebel agreed.
“I think it will send the right signal,” Ebel said.
Added Patience: “It’s another step forward and another step behind us in
a long journey. Every step forward is good.”
Buoyed by the province’s clear intention to build the police college,
investors will spring into action, Ponjavic and Ebel predicted.
“If people wait until the college is already built they miss a ton of
growth,” Ponjavic explained. “I think this is what everyone is waiting
for — the shovel in the ground.”