A Sundre businessman, with encouragement from downhill skiing legend and former Crazy Canuck Jungle Jim Hunter, is trying to gather support for a top-level fitness training centre in town.
At a recent public open house, Mike Beukeboom and Hunter highlighted the merits of establishing a $45-million to $65-million complex that would feature the latest in Olympic-sized ice surfaces, indoor lacrosse and soccer fields and running tracks, as well as training and testing areas, meeting rooms and other spaces geared to the physically active of all levels of skill.
Researchers are developing ways to battle mountain pine beetles with their own genes.
Janice Cooke, co-leader of the Tria Project, is part of a team of researchers looking at relationships between the mountain pine beetle, the fungus it carries with it and the trees they jointly invade.
It appears that the fungus may play a role in helping make the tree more comfortable for the beetle and could also be playing a role in killing it, Cooke said from her office at the University of Alberta.
A $100-million gasification plant proposed for Red Deer County is unlikely to be fully operational before 2012, said project manager Frank Peck on Friday.
That`s a far cry from optimistic predictions that the plant would be accepting garbage by 2009 and generating electricity by 2010 made at a news conference trumpeting the project last October.
Peck said the main reason the project has taken longer to get off the ground than anticipated has been the amount of work involved in drafting a pair of agreements necessary before the first shovel hits the ground, or even before the first detailed design work can begin. An agreement guaranteeing plant owner and operator Plasco Energy Group a supply of garbage necessary to feed the plant is close to being hammered out.
The city is in negotiations to purchase one of downtown Calgary`s most notorious buildings.
Officials from the city confirmed Friday a bid has been put in for the Cecil Hotel, and both the city and owner Sam Silverman are in negotiations to determine a selling price.
"We have had an offer on the table for quite some time now," said Donna Brown, co-ordinator of acquisitions for the city.
The Town of Okotoks has brought in a water ban, asking residents to forgo watering their lawns, washing their cars or cleaning off their driveways until the town`s reservoir levels go back up.
In addition to the outdoor water ban, Okotoks officials are asking that people reduce personal use by doing dishes only when the dishwasher is full, taking shorter showers and flushing the toilet less often.
"People can still hand-water their vegetable gardens and flower beds with a watering can or trigger-spray nozzle," said town spokeswoman Alyssa Berry.
First it was North American activists beating the drums about Alberta`s so-called "dirty oil."
Now the European arm of the World Wildlife Fund is taking oilsands producers to task for trying to pass their efforts at stewardship off as sustainable development, a widely frowned upon process known as "greenwashing."
Who knows what -- or who -- will be next. But if there`s one thing you can make book on, it`s that there will be more nasty attacks on the oilsands, the companies that mine them and the government of Alberta, which owns the world-class resource.
It was while Global TV`s traffic report helicopter flew over 17th Avenue S.E. and pointed out where GlobalFest is taking place that I realized just how big the lake at Elliston Regional Park is.
Most of us are aware of our man-made lakes such as Bonavista, Bonaventure and Sundance, but this one in the park that stretches from 60th St. to 68th St. on the south side of 17th Avenue is the largest stormwater body of water in the city.
The park itself covers 120 acres; a partnership of the Calgary Parks Foundation and the Elliston Park Society have designated 12.5 acres as an environmental enhancement project, restoring it back to its grassland/prairie habitat.
That`s pretty much all Calgary-area builders can do as the industry struggles with a continuing deep decline in construction starts of single-family homes.
Work started in July on 431 detached homes -- 46-per-cent lower than the same month a year ago and the weakest July since 1995 when such starts totalled 370, says Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
The fact it`s even being considered again is galling.
Yes, folks, despite objections from some aldermen, city council is once again considering bleeding more money from homeowners -- by revisiting the one-per-cent land transfer tax.
In July, council approved an intergovernmental affairs report, a move that could bring about a request from the city to the Stelmach government for changes to the Municipal Government Act.
Because of Calgary`s rapid growth, it can be hard to keep track of all its neighbourhoods. The following is part of an ongoing series profiling communities in Calgary -- from older, inner-city areas to the newest suburbs on the city`s outskirts.
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Like many Calgarians, my family has a happy tradition of heading out to Cochrane on random Saturday afternoons, to browse in our favourite shops and pay a visit to McKay`s Ice Cream.
Buyers who are contemplating the purchase of a large new home soon recognize that economic realities force them to compromise and settle for a smaller dwelling.
The key question for many is whether the space is sufficient to accommodate their needs, primarily in the case of a young, growing family.
Few builders nowadays offer innovative products that let occupants grow their homes. Known as an add-in, several strategies are possible, one of which is to manipulate existing space and avoid addition.
After searching for months, you`ve finally found the perfect piece of land on which to build the recreation property of your dreams.
So what`s the next step?
For most people, it would be to find a builder and choose a plan for a home, or maybe work with an architect and then hire a general contractor to gather the necessary tradespeople-- to do the actual construction.
Delegation, province discuss future of Wiebe Bridge
The future of the Wiebe Bridge is still in limbo after a decision was tabled by the Barrhead County council on Tuesday, August 5 while administration awaits legal advice and further information from the Alberta Transportation Ministry.
A seven member delegation met with councillors, assistant public works superintendent Ken Hove and provincial bridge manager Michael Botros, who reported on the recent engineering assessments of the bridge.
"There is a lot of concern about the wooden approaches to the bridge and its age. We normally expect bridges to last for 75 years, and this bridge is 101 years old...so it`s lasted quite a while," explained Botros to a skeptical audience.
As one phase of downtown streetscape improvements nears completion, a second is about to begin.
However, work is progressing slower than expected as a construction schedule announced by the Town of Okotoks in June anticipated the final phase of sidewalk improvements to be completed at the beginning of the month.
Donita Beaulieu, owner of Ginger Laurier, can`t wait for it to be over and looks forward to having the completed plaza beside her business.
"It will be wonderful to have a park," she added.
After seeing work on McRae Street for two summers in a row, she said it has taken a long time for the street improvements to be completed and just wants it finished.
An Okotoks resident is concerned a new intersection on the Town`s north boundary will cause more traffic problems, rather than help fix them.
Okotoks resident Darwin Orr said the newly reconstructed and signalized intersection of 338 Avenue and Highway 2A by the new Okotoks Honda and Keith Pontiac GMC dealerships makes it difficult and dangerous for people trying to access businesses on a service road west of the highway.
In particular, Orr points to a median constructed on the west side of the intersection next to the future Keith dealership adjacent to a service road that runs in front of the Okotoks Veterinary Clinic and Edison School. He would like to see the island removed.
Drivers will soon have a new access to the Highwood Auction Mart or Mazeppa areas as work on a new partial interchange on Highway 2 south of Aldersyde is nearing completion.
Trent Bancarz, Alberta transportation spokesman, said the project could be finished earlier than the provincial government`s Oct. 15 deadline for the seven million dollar project.
"That`s the timeline for the absolute latest… It could be sooner if things go well and they manage to get it done sooner," he said.
Green living is coming to the masses in Black Diamond.
A 33-unit building slated for the north side of Highway 22 across from the Lion`s Campground will have a significant number of environmental measures.
Prairie Dog Development is building the Winchester and co-owner Chris Morrill said environmental building has been on his horizon for quite some time.
"A lot of our homeowners are going that route," he said. "People are adding solar panels and extra insulation to make their homes more energy efficient."
The Winchester will use solar panels to heat the building`s water. A bank of detached garages, similar to those in Okotoks` Drake Landing, will have the panels attached to the roof.
Just because the majority of new residential growth in Okotoks is occurring on its outer edges doesn`t mean it won`t happen in the town`s established neighbourhods.
As single-family housing continues on the edges of town, higher density redevelopment pressures could be on the horizon for centrally located areas.
"It`s already happening," said Okotoks municipal planner Steve Hanhart.
He pointed to mixed-use residential and commercial developments in the downtown core and river valley as examples of higher density redevelopment.
First of a 4-part series on Growth in the Foothills
The Herr and Bannister family roots in the Davisburg area date back to the turn of the century.
Davisburg`s original homesteading families have seen the area they grew up in change significantly over the years.
At 71, Ann Herr has spent her entire life in the area. Her father was one of the original homesteaders. Connie Hunt, 75, is a descendent of the original Herr family who broke ground in 1885 with the coming of the railroad. Both grew up and farmed land in the northeast edge of the MD of Foothills their entire working lives.
The two women have seen the land that was once utilized entirely as agricultural land, with neighbours` homes separated by miles of fields, to an area dotted by large subdivisions and country residential homes.
The deputy premier of the Northwest Territories says his government, anxious about the environmental impacts of the burgeoning Alberta oilsands, wants to negotiate a deal with the province to protect the water flowing north.
Michael Miltenberger, who is also the territory`s environment minister, said his government is worried about oilsands and other developments on the Athabasca and Peace Rivers and the effects they will have on the Mackenzie River Basin.
"We`re very concerned and committed and recognize the need for watershed management," he told a water conference in Fort Chipewyan on Saturday. "No jurisdiction can manage the water on its own. We all have a vested interest in working together."
