Any new multiplex belongs on south side

By Letter to the Editor on November 3, 2020.

Dear editor,

A few short years ago, and much to the chagrin of the majority of Medicine Hat taxpayers, Mayor Ted Clugston announced the Canalta Centre (recently renamed Co-op Place) would be built in the Box Springs Business Park.

This dubious decision to build a facility costing in excess of $65 million in such a distant location has, sadly, never met expectations; a beautiful facility in an egregious location.

Fast forward to the article in the Medicine Hat News, dated Oct. 22: Albert Stark, head of BSBP ownership group, suggests the mayor and council contemplate building another massive, taxpayer-funded white elephant (multiplex) project in the same uninspiring BSBP location. In the same article, Clugston all but told the community his mind was made up on this preposterous proposal by stating, “At first people may say ‘no way’ then they will get used to the drive.” Obviously the mayor is making it clear he is predisposed to Mr. Stark and the BSBP suggestion. Well Mayor Clugston, you did get one thing right; there is “no way” the taxpayers of Medicine Hat are about to consider yet another horrendous idea to build a multiplex in the most geographically challenged district of our city, not to mention its remoteness from the population base. Remember the slogan, “Build it and They will Come”? Well, you built it and sadly, as predicted, no one came.

Further, and contrary to the mayor’s statement regarding community locations, these types of facilities belong within the communities of the city, (the Family Leisure Centre, for example) and not in a remote industrial park that is closer to Redcliff than the citizenry who pay for the construction, maintenance and management of such buildings.

For the mayor to suggest otherwise raises more questions about why he so forcibly progresses the agenda of the BSBP and not that of city taxpayers.

The facts are that north-side residents currently enjoy excellent multi-faceted sporting facilities located within their community through the upgraded Family Leisure Centre – a beautiful complex that the majority of city residents from the north and south supported being built, and then extensively expanded, primarily through taxpayer funding.

The last thing this city council and mayor should be considering is another large multiplex on the north side when the south side is devoid of such recreational resources.

With this at the fore, city fathers must ensure any new taxpayer funded multiplex initiatives be situated in the south side and not BSBP. Like the north, the south side is a vibrant and expanding area that would benefit greatly from a purpose-built recreational hub that would stimulate further economic growth and expansion in the area.

The city’s south already has the critical infrastructure to support a multiplex with numerous vehicular access routes both into and out of the area. Further, the south side offers residents and visitors alike services such as multiple new and established hotels, convention facilities, shopping, restaurants, grocery stores, banks, fuel options and other important infrastructure vital to supporting a multiplex that itself will provide opportunities for the entire community.

But, most importantly, it is the taxpayer base (including local businesses) of this city that must collectively reap the benefit from this initiative, not singular consortia entities.

The taxpayers of Medicine Hat who will ultimately fund and maintain this facility should be the ones to decide where this it is built, and the answer is simple:

The south side.

Ken Pirie

Medicine Hat

16
-15