Mayor Tara Veer stands outside of The City of Red Deer's new Culture Services building. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall and Troy Gillard

new offices open

City feels downtown moves will inspire confidence

Jul 4, 2019 | 3:54 PM

The City of Red Deer wants to lead by example in rewriting the narrative for the downtown area by opening three new facilities aimed at addressing public safety, economic diversification and culture.

“One of the top priorities we have heard from our citizens is that we want to make investments in our downtown, to revitalize our downtown, to protect our downtown and to ensure our downtown is a safe place,” Mayor Tara Veer explained during a tour of the new facilities on Thursday.

On the public safety front, there’s the new office for the RCMP downtown beat unit, located on Little Gaetz (5009-50 Ave).

The four-member unit was established in late 2018 and in the first three months of this year received 159 calls for service, leading to 42 criminal charges being laid and 70 arrest warrants executed on wanted individuals.

“That’s over and above what our general duty members are doing day-to-day downtown,” explained Staff Sgt. Jeff McBeth. “But we also have to focus on prevention and being proactive downtown, and that’s exactly what they do.

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“Certainly with mayor and council identifying the downtown as a priority, and we take that very seriously, safety is important to us and it’s important to residents. We play a major role in helping people change the perception that downtown isn’t a safe place. I very much believe it’s safe.”

McBeth acknowledged, “It’s difficult to change people’s perception, but that’s the role we have and is certainly what we’re trying to do.”

The City’s Land and Economic Development department hopes to encourage downtown activity through its move from City Hall into the century-old Train Station building at the end of Ross Street.

“The more activity we can bring to that particular area and that node is only going to be beneficial to the downtown,” explained John Sennema, Manager of Land and Economic Development. “We envision folks utilizing our space and all that activity up and down Ross Street is only positive for all those businesses.”

Sennema says their new home will also allow them to serve as a hub for the Historic Downtown, Capstone at Riverlands and Railyards districts.

“We don’t want Capstone to just be the primary focus going forward,” Sennema noted. “We can help get a better understanding of how those districts work together and make sure that we’re not putting too much emphasis on Capstone while ignoring downtown. We want our businesses to be successful in our downtown.”

Sennema also sees potential for the Railyards district to include a mix of residential and commercial development similar to what’s in the works for Capstone.

Meantime, the City’s new Cultural Services centre in the former Central Intermediate School building, most recently the head office for the 2019 Canada Winter Games, celebrates its grand opening Friday.

“Culture Services for many, many years has been up in the suburbs. By moving it back downtown, we’re generating positive social and economic activity in our downtown,” shared Veer. “We know that this is one piece of a very big puzzle, but as long as we are continuing to make progress and implement our broader vision and take positive steps forward, that’s really our objective.”

Veer believes opening all three new facilities shows The City of Red Deer is on the right path toward downtown revitalization.

“It’s important we celebrate what’s positive, build upon what’s positive and build catalysts, but (also) that we’re very candid in saying there are very real social and crime challenges that we have to address head on. It’s our responsibility to do that with our community.”