Gazette issues published in the months of August through the decade of the 1980s show a community with a growing cultural component at the same time as questions are raised about emerging environmental concerns, especially regarding the Sturgeon River. With bored youths not yet back in school, "vandalism" could almost be the August theme at city council and in the Gazette, throughout much of the '80s.
On Aug. 7, 1980 the Gazette printed a photo showing new craters that had caved in over sewer lines behind Grandin mall. Local veterinarians were concerned that summer because of an increase in the number of dogs dying from parvo disease.
A petition committee chaired by resident Ray Gibbon was presented to city council in August 1980. The petition, signed by 3,000 people, demanded that city council determine how and where it would proceed with the western bypass and it went on to ask that these questions be answered before the St. Albert Trail expansion and widening took place.
Also in the "what else is new?" category, Hole's Greenhouse staff were answering questions in the Gazette pages about what to do because of the heavy slug population, caused by heavy rains. Slug spray was the recommended solution that year.
A Gazette editorial questioned the expense to the taxpayer for the proposed new city hall on the Sturgeon River. The cost was expected to increase because of pilings on the riverbank and the editorial went on to argue that perhaps the new fire hall should be built first.
The mission bells had been refinished in Garney, Que. and were installed in the new 60-ton concrete bell tower home in front of St. Albert Parish.
In 1981 residents of Akinsdale and Woodlands presented city council with arguments against proposed high-density housing projects.
Vandals in Lacombe Park that year were dubbed, "wiper swipers" because they had stolen windshield wipers from 16 vehicles. Meanwhile, downtown businesses were afraid that Perron Street would soon be 'dead.'
Jasper Auto Parts, located where Superstore now sits, burned down in 1981. It was thought that children playing with matches likely started the fire. Firemen had a difficult time putting out the blaze because of the lack of fire hydrants. They were forced to shuttle back and forth into the city to get water.
Vandalism awareness projects in the schools were touted as having dropped the vandalism rate by 20 per cent since 1979.
Construction began on the pedestrian bridge linking St. Albert Centre with south St. Albert.
Mortgage rates
Interest rates took flight during this decade and in August 1981 soared to 19.5 per cent. This caused developers to slow construction on the proposed neighbourhoods of Heritage Lakes, Pineview and Dorchester West. A Forest Lawn bungalow listed for sale in August at $89,000. Gazette real estate ads that summer printed appealing interest rates in bold type. One ad read, "$83,500 mortgage at 15 per cent for three years."
By 1985 however, developers were "poised for rebound " and it was expected that Carma Developers would open 66 lots in Heritage Lakes.
By August 1989 a Forest Lawn bungalow was listed at $96,000 and a one-year Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation mortgage was 13.50 per cent.
Sunday openings
In the summer of 1982 residents were asked to "name the St. Albert Civic and Cultural Centre" and a fundraiser was announced to raise funds for building's cultural component.
In business, store owners were crying about the need to compete with SuperValu, which was open seven days per week, and Village Tree mall was nearing completion.
By 1983 stories and photos about St. Albert artists, theatrical productions and musicians begin to skip through the pages of the Gazette and a new cultural awareness was dawning in the community. One article explained that more than 60 courses were being offered by the St. Albert cultural department.
The first St. Albert Farmers' Market kicked off in August of 1983.
The St. Albert Children's Theatre performed Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Fringe Theatre in Edmonton.
During the summer of 1983 studies were conducted to learn the success of a Manitoba mine-recovery project near a lake to see if similar things could be done near Big Lake. The Manitoba project had wooden sidewalks to lead bird watchers closer to the shores to watch migratory birds.
A Gazette headline that August read, "Alcohol may cause birth defects" and went on to suggest that the severity of the defects "seems to increase with the quantity of alcohol the mother drinks."
Skateboard park
Then councillor Ken Allred campaigned for a skateboard park and a waterpark. At first the project was suggested as part of downtown redevelopment but the park was envisioned as a "conglomerate of concrete lined ditches, sloped tracks, a pond, walkway and mature trees."
The Kinsmen were in the process of installing three baseball diamonds and a football field near their 'Korral.' The cost was $110,000.
The terrible tornado in Edmonton in 1987 brought out the best in St. Albert. A Gazette photo showed a line of residents with donations for tornado victims. The donations were put in the Perron Street Arena and then taken in three city trucks to Edmonton.
Perhaps the first published photo of Jerome Iginla showed him in 1987 with a gritty, determined look on his face as he batted in the provincial mosquito A baseball tournament. Iginla was the winning pitcher and the team won provincials that year.
An intriguing story from California found its way into the Gazette in August 1987. It described a bar argument where one patron showed off his gold nugget. The guy beside him took the nugget and dropped it into his beer. Later the beer/nugget swallower said he meant to stop it with his tongue. He was prohibited from going to the bar washroom so instead, he stood on his head in an attempt to dislodge the gold. The barkeeper said, "All he did was vomit."
Charges were laid but were expected to be dropped if the nugget was recovered. We'll never know the rest of this story but it's worth pointing out that in 1987 gold was worth $419 an ounce.
Downtown St. Albert revitalization discussions that year proposed the building of St. Thomas Street.
The Sturgeon River was the subject of a number of August articles from 1987 until 1989 but sadly, it was proclaimed in 1989 that "river scum" was "here to stay." Alberta Environment experts suggested that agricultural fertilizer and manure seepage all along the river meant an increase of weeds and the unlikelihood that St. Albert would ever have 'a babbling brook' within its boundaries.
