City has big hopes for downtown lot

By COLLIN GALLANT on July 8, 2021.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

The asphalt is coming up on at the 603 First St. parking lot, which the city is hailing as the start of construction of its Waterfront District plan to revitalize the city centre.

The site, kitty-corner to city hall and long seen as a symbol of stagnation in downtown, will be repaved this summer, add a food truck alley, solar-power canopy, and see paver blocks laid in one end to accommodate market stalls and events.

Even a skating rink is possible, said Chris Perret, director of land development and real estate for the city.

“We’ve deliberately designed it to keep it functional for parking, but easily convertible for event space on evenings and weekends,” he said at an early morning ceremony sod turning, which involved a patch of asphalt.

“We really want people to have a reason to come downtown, experience downtown and the waterfront.”

Mayor Ted Clugston took the occasion to recall his campaign vow in 2013 to build a “landmark building” on the site in his first term or decline to seek a second term.

On Wednesday he said he was proud of nearby building improvements made possible after city investments in infrastructure, along with coming work on “Waterfront District” projects like the lot, now dubbed the Market Square concept.

“Right now (the lot) is very underwhelming), but I do hope it becomes a gateway gathering point to beautiful parks, and I’ve spoken about the Beveridge Building (redevelopment across the alley),” said Clugston. “In 2007, downtown was vacant, and now it’s the place to be.”

MJB Enterprises is the general contractor on the project that is mostly paid for with a $2-million federal government grant meant to stimulate the economy coming out of the pandemic.

“We’ll see progress starting right now, and taking place through the summer, and we hope to have some events here later in the fall, and soft landscaping in the spring,” said Perret, who said 50 parking stalls will remain in place.

Three separate deals to sell the city-owned lot to private developers fell through in the early parts of the last decade. The city abandoned its own project to build two six-storey commercial/condo towers in 2016 when a private sector partner backed out. Last fall, a conditional sale aided by tax incentives to a local hotel developer fell through due to the general state of the economy.

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