Premier Ed Stelmach brought good news for residents such as Gord Wolstenholme and John Dziadyk.
Shawn Patience presents Ed Stelmach a limited edition print of the town office.
The Alberta government will deliver on the promise it made nearly five years ago to build the police college in Fort Macleod.
Premier Ed Stelmach said money for construction of the college will be in the 2011 budget to be announced Thursday, and that construction will start in the summer of 2012.
“I want to thank everybody for their patience,” Stelmach said. “There was a lot of gnashing of teeth trying to put this together.”
Stelmach told the 150 people at Fort Macleod and District Community Hall engineering on the “state of the art facility” will begin immediately.
Fort Macleod Mayor Shawn Patience welcomed the announcement.
“This is a very good day for Fort Macleod,” Patience said. “The future really is now. We have a lot of work ahead of us. This is not the end of the road, it’s the start of a new road. We want to be world-renowned for our training centre.”
Stelmach and Livingstone-Macleod MLA Evan Berger could not provide many specific details, but the plan is to train 1,400 police and peace officer recruits each year at the college.
It has not been determined whether the college will be built with a public-private (P3) partnership.
“That is still being worked back and forth,” Berger said. “The line item will allow it to go forward as a government build or as a P3.”
Stelmach said it is unfortunate the project did not move forward after Fort Macleod was announced as the site in August 2006 by then-Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko.
“It’s been a long, drawn-out process,” the premier admitted.
Stelmach said the project suffered a setback when there were no “meaningful” responses to the governments request for proposals from companies interested in a public-private partnership (P3) to build the police college.
The project’s delay ended Tuesday when it was included in the speech from the throne, and will gain momentum Thursday when it is announced $130-million to $150-million is included in the budget for construction of the police college.
“Dollars will be allocated in a very specific line item for the training centre,” Stelmach said.
Berger said Fort Macleod owes a debt of gratitude to its council, and in particular the mayor.
“Shawn has been patient,” Berger said. “But he’s also been relentless.”
Stelmach agreed.
“With respect to Mayor Patience, he does reflect his name,” Stelmach said with a laugh.
Berger praised Patience and his council for being strong advocates for Fort Macleod, keeping the police college project in front of the premier, cabinet ministers and MLAs for nearly five years.
“He’s done it very, very persistently,” Berger said of Patience.
Stelmach also said Fort Macleod’s mayor and council were respectful — and persistent — in their lobbying efforts on behalf of the police college project.
Berger said he understands the frustration of Fort Macleod’s council and citizens and that they might have thought government had turned its back on the town when there was no concrete action on the police college project.
“Let me assure you, I never dropped the ball,” Berger said. “Everybody in Edmonton knew we had a commitment and had to move forward.”
Patience said there is plenty of credit to go around, referring to the efforts of his past and present council, former economic development officer Gordon MacIvor and the people of Fort Macleod.
“A lot of people can make a difference in the world and a lot of people have,” Patience said.
The mayor also pointed out the police college project has been the responsibility of five solicitors general, the most recent of which is Frank Oberle.
“Had any one of them dropped that ball, we would not be standing here today,” Patience said.
Patience said Stelmach played no small role in making the police college a reality.
“I believed that if we were ever to see this day, it would be the commitment of the premier that won the day for us,” Patience said.
The mayor also credited Berger and his predecessor, Dave Coutts.
“A lot of people made this happen,” Patience said.
The announcement on Thursday brought the mayor a measure of relief.
“We have had times when most people probably believed we would never see this facility,” Patience said.
Patience said the experience of rallying the entire community to win the bid in 2006 was rewarding, but that was tempered by the frustration of nearly five years with no action on the police college.
“There have been many days and nights since then (August 2006) that I didn’t think I would see this particular day,” Patience said.
Hank Arnoldussen of Scougall Motors praised the premier for delivering on the promise to build the police college in Fort Macleod.
“Mr. Premier, you are a man of your word,” Arnoldussen said.
Arnoldussen also said Fort Macleod residents appreciate the work Patience, his council and Berger did on behalf of the community.
Doug Thornton of Pincher Creek said the announcement is good news for the region.
“We’re really pleased to see this here for our neighbours,” Thornton said. “It came together by working together.”
Piikani Nation councillor Patsy English also congratulated Fort Macleod.
“It’s a real blessed day,” English said.