Police college sod-turning

Alberta Infrastructure Minister Ray Danyluk operated a trackhoe Monday to turn the sod to mark the start of construction of the $122-million Alberta Public Security and Law Enforcement Training Centre in Fort Macleod.

The Alberta government promised in August 2006 it would build a police college in Fort Macleod.
The government took another step toward delivering on that promise Monday with the turning of sod at the 320-acre site just off Highway 2.
“I think it means a great deal to Albertans that their government keeps their promises and displays that kind of integrity,” Fort Macleod Mayor Shawn Patience said.
Hundreds of people turned out Monday morning for the sod-turning ceremony for the $122-million Alberta Public Security and Law Enforcement Training Centre.
Provincial officials used two trackhoes to turn the sod following a ceremony that included a Blackfoot blessing.
“When I look out over the crowd today, I think I can actually see people pinching themselves,” Livingstone-Macleod MLA Evan Berger said. “They’re having a hard time accepting that this day is finally here.”
The police college was to be built and operating by now when the government announced in August 2006 that Fort Macleod was the site, following a bid process that involved communities across the province.
The project languished for five years as the government failed to attract a private investor willing to build the college.
“I have been wondering what I would say when this actually happened,” Patience said. “Lord knows, I had a long time to think about it.”
Patience was referring to the five-year wait Fort Macleod has endured for the sod-turning ceremony since the government decided the college would be built here.
“We had no idea what we were in for,” Patience said. “I sure didn’t.”
Fort Macleod winning the bid in 2006 was announced with great fanfare and created a mood of optimism in the community.
That optimism gave way to frustration as the government failed to attract a public-private partnership with anyone willing to fund construction on their own.
“I’m standing here with some mixed emotions,” Patience said. “This has been such an up and down roller coaster.”
The project gained new life in February when Premier Ed Stelmach came to Fort Macleod to announce there would be $122-million in the budget for the police college.
Berger said the project took longer than expected, but will be worth the wait.
“It’s been a long time coming, but all good things are worth the wait,” Berger said. “I think this will be that good thing that southern Alberta will say in the future was well worth the wait. It will be of benefit to all of us.”
Solicitor General Frank Oberle, who in March 2010 promised to get the project back on track, agreed.
“It’s a great day for Fort Macleod, southern Alberta and the whole province,” Oberle said.
The plan 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, indoor and outdoor firearm ranges, a driving track, gymnasium, running track and eating facilities.
Infrastructure Minister Danyluk assured people there is considerable work going on behind the scenes, including finalizing plans to provide utility service to the site, geotechnical investigations and design planning.
“We’re going to be calling for proposals of the building this fall,” Danyluk said. “You will see the earth starting to be moved very quickly.”
Danyluk said a contract for construction will be in place early next year and construction will be complete in 2014.
“This is going to be a first class training facility,” Danyluk said. “It isn’t just for one aspect, it’s for many different interest groups to be able to use.”
Oberle said the police college will be used to train peace officers and police recruits from across Alberta.
In addition, police and peace officers will come to Fort Macleod for professional development courses.
Oberle said discussions are ongoing with police departments in Alberta cities, and with the RCMP.
“The RCMP has already committed that they want to use this facility,” Oberle said.
Oberle said training all of Alberta’s police and peace officers at a central location is part of the new vision for policing in the province.
“That’s what Alberta policing is about — integration and co-operation,” Oberle said.
Patience stressed the sod-turning ceremony while important, is just one more step on a long journey.
“In the sod that we’re about to turn today, we’ll be planting the seeds of prosperity of this community and this region well into the future,” Patience said. “It’s never a given. A seed, like anything, needs to be nurtured, it needs to be cared for and we’re not going anywhere. I know this community is not going anywhere. It’s been engaged in this process from Day 1. That’s why we were successful in the beginning, and it’s why we are successful today.”
Patience credited council members, Town of Fort Macleod staff, the public, community groups and even the press for keeping the project moving ahead.
Patience presented Oberle and Danyluk with framed prints of the Town of Fort Macleod office, which Danyluk had previously admired.
Blackfoot elders Devlin Small Legs and Maurice Little Wolf blessed the land on which the police college will be built.
Little Wolf said the arrival of Oberle and Danyluk at the ceremony by police cars with lights flashing and sirens blaring, made him think of 137 years ago when the Blackfoot Brave Dog Society guided the first North West Mounted Police troop to the area.
Little Wolf said the peace treaty intended the white settlers and the Blackfoot to keep the peace, respect one another, raise their children together and work together.
“Today I ask you, as my brothers and sisters, that we continue this unity for our future generations,” Little Wolf said. “The people who are here today represent the future generations, that they have a better turn in life, unity and with love.”
Small Legs and Little Wolf had Fort Macleod and government officials spread tobacco on the ground, following a Blackfoot prayer.
Berger and Danyluk then climbed into trackhoes to turn the sod, and then took up shovels to join Fort Macleod officials in another symbolic ceremony.
“The future of Fort Macleod and all of southern Alberta just got a little brighter today,” Berger said.