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UPDATE: The City of Red Deer how has an agreement with the Province for transfer of title. Currently, City government claims it doesn't know what will happen yet, and wants to consult the community. Some asbestos mitigation has been started in some of the buildings. Some prep work for demolition of some of the buildings has been started. We are unsure if the plan is to destroy all of the buildings or not. There is an estimate that it will cost 23 million to remove the buildings.

It has been revealed that there is not an appetite within City Government to have affordable housing or social benefit services and resources on the site.

A vision of sky rises, a possible aquatic center, and a small memorial to the history of the site has been shared. We believe that while those things can and should be put on the site, that the central "Village" of the old institutional buildings, if relieved of asbestos, can provide shells in which to superimpose several types of housing, services, retail and business options that could provide sustainable income to support community solutions, employment opportunities, learning opportunities, cultural and inclusion spaces, and local economic opportunities for a very robust and diverse spectrum of  return on investment. 

We hope that better heads will prevail in this discussion and that community members will demand a long view from the City, rather than simply short term financial gains that mostly benefit developers (who may or may not have roots in the City or a stake in the success of Red Deer as a community.

An intelligent, forward thinking effort by the entire community, including all sectors, would create a galvanizing focus that is needed to bring together the siloed and disconnected parts of our City and make the most of local resources, better use provincial and Federal resources, and produce value-added, positive, community "side-effects."

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We don't have all the answers, but we know that if enough individuals and entities got their heads together, some very innovative and creative ways can be found to provide so many parts of a shared community vision for the property, and a legacy of intentional community development that would benefit the area for generations to come. 

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