The long overdue library and cultural centre will officially open its doors to the public in June, three and half years behind schedule and $1.5 million over budget.
Mayor Richard Ireland said construction will be completed on the beleaguered project by the end of May and the library will begin partially vacating its current location after the May long weekend so renovations at the arena can begin.
By June the library and the building’s other tenants, namely the Jasper Artists Guild, Habitat for the Arts, l'Association Canadienne Francaise de l'Alberta (ACFA) and the municipality, will be able to move into their new premises.
“Once all the tenants are in they will hold an open house–a sneak peak–sometime early this summer and at long last you will see for yourselves what all the fuss has been about and I’m confident you will be impressed,” said Ireland, during his fourth annual state of the municipality address, May 10.
He described the June target date as a “soft opening” ahead of the official grand opening in September.
The official grand opening is scheduled for Sept. 30 to coincide with Alberta Culture Days from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.
The mayor said the timing of the library’s move is very sensitive because renovations at the arena are scheduled to begin soon.
“The library must start vacating its current premises under the bleachers in the arena immediately after the May long weekend,” said Ireland,
Last September, the municipality was forced to postpone renovations to the Zamboni room until the library could move out so contractors could move the boiler room under the bleachers.
The boiler room is currently located above the Zamboni room and needs to be moved to increase the height of the ceiling so the new, taller Zamboni can properly dump snow.
“This is a decidedly time sensitive move, the window for the arena renovations is extremely narrow, which means the packing and moving of the library must be equally quick and efficient and if you want to help you certainly can,” said Ireland.
During his address he also announced that the tender for the exchange lands, the site of the former high school, was awarded to Jasper Concrete to build a multi-purpose sports pitch. Construction is expected to begin in two weeks and is expected to be completed in 2016, before Centennial Field undergoes major repairs in 2017.
“The design of the exchange lands includes a multi-purpose sports pitch, a needed alternative to our busy Centennial Park facilities and will also incorporate basic features to support a variety of community events and gatherings,” Ireland told the business audience.
Over the course of the mayor’s 30-minute speech, he also highlighted council’s strategic priorities, including its strategic asset management plan, its partnership with Parks Canada and other organizations, the municipality’s fiscal health and briefly touched on the town’s emergency preparedness in light of the wildfire in Fort McMurray.
“We are committed to providing quality core services, that’s what municipalities do, water, waste water, garbage, roads, fire protection, recreational facilities and social services, dull stuff mostly, but necessary and critical,” said Ireland.
To provide those services the municipality recently adopted an asset management plan to replace and repair aging assets and infrastructure.
“We know that our infrastructure is aging and it’s failing,” said Ireland. “Attempting to determine what is most likely to fail first and getting to it before that happens will save costs in the long run.”
The cost to replace all of the municipality’s assets was calculated at $269 million, according to a strategic asset management study that was presented to council last fall.
“That doesn’t mean that all of the assets have to be replaced now, but the study reflects the replacement costs at today’s value and many of the assets will not be replaced for years so the cost is only going to increase,” said Ireland.
“All of those assets have a theoretical service life. With the exception of storm water underground service, every one of those assets already exceeds its theoretical service life,” said Ireland, pointing to the town’s 50-year-old arena that is still meeting the needs of the community, but also needs work.
He said the town’s fleet is its “worst offender” exceeding its theoretical life by an average of 38 per cent.
To address the issue the municipality has begun buying and leasing vehicles, such as the new fire truck that arrived this spring and a new Frost Hog to thaw the ground in the winter.
Pivoting to the municipality’s relationships with other organizations, Ireland highlighted several successful initiatives that have bared fruit over the past year, including the proposed development to build more housing in Jasper.
“That housing initiative is not the only example of the benefit of relationships. We continue to be engaged with Parks Canada on the general issue of jurisdictional authority of land use, planning and development. It remains too early to anticipate how that may result, but without the existence of the goodwill arising from an already strong relationship those discussions could not begin to commence.”
He said the municipality and Parks Canada will continue to discuss the transfer of the waste transfer station, a facility used by both the municipality and Parks.
He also highlighted the recent sidewalk-seating bylaw, which had to receive Parks’ blessing before council could pass it.
Mayor Ireland also took time to emphasize the town’s relationship with the Jasper Partnership Initiative, which includes Parks Canada, Tourism Jasper, the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce, Marmot Basin and the Jasper Hotel Association.
He pointed to the Tour of Alberta as a prime example of what can be done when everyone collaborates and works together.
“Relationships also recently resulted in the announcement of the scheduled air service between the Calgary International Airport and the regional airport in Edson. And although the municipality of Jasper was proud to be involved in that regional effort with council representatives from Hinton, Edson and Yellowhead County, it was the leadership of Tourism Jasper that made that happen,” said Ireland.
As for the municipality's fiscal health the mayor said he has renewed his efforts to work with Banff and Canmore to find alternative revenue sources for tourism-based communities.
“Tourism-based communities are no longer alone in recognition of the need to address alternative revenue sources, municipalities across the province are becoming increasingly aware their reliance on property tax alone does not position communities for a sustainable future,” said Ireland.
He said alternative revenue sources have become a major topic of discussion as the province begins to review the Municipal Government Act and collect feedback from municipalities. The province intends to pass new legislation in the fall session.
“Our current focus, funded by provincial grants, is to compile data to quantify tourism spending and the economic impact generated within the Rocky Mountain communities relative to the rest of Alberta and also to quantify the cost to those communities required to generate that tourism revenue,” explained Ireland.
Paul Clarke
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