As the decade of the 1970s started in St. Albert, there were also a couple of other new beginnings. The new Sturgeon Community Hospital had just recently opened its doors, and the photo on the front page of the Sept. 2, 1970, edition of the St. Albert Gazette showed the proud parents of the first baby to be born at the facility. Robert Louis Martineau entered the world at 12:28 a.m. on Aug. 31, 1970, and was, according to the accompanying story, "just what his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Martineau, had ordered."
Meanwhile, other things were coming to an end, like the tenure of local school board trustee Ron Harvey, who announced in September 1970 that he would not seek re-election to the local Protestant Separate School Board in that fall's election.
In other election news from that month, Gazette publisher Ernie Jamison addressed readers directly in the Sept. 16, 1970, edition, announcing that he would seek the Progressive Conservative nomination for the local riding in upcoming provincial election. "At 46 years of age I don't feel I have time to wait beyond the next election to enter the political arena," Jamison wrote.
Jamison's bid for elected office would finally culminate almost exactly one year later. The front page of the Sept. 1, 1971, edition of the Gazette pictured Ernie and his wife Shirley hugging and smiling as it was announced that he had won the seat in the Alberta Legislature for the St. Albert constituency. Jamison finished with 4,623 votes, ousting Social Credit incumbent Keith Everitt, who garnered 3,592.
Page 9 of the Sept. 15, 1971, Gazette was filled with the news of candidates who had declared their candidacy for the Oct. 13 civic election. This was to be the first civic election held under new provincial rules, whereby all the councillor positions and the mayor's seat were up for grabs at the same time every three years. There were three candidates for mayor this time, including incumbent Ray Gibbon, and 11 seeking a seat on council.
September 1972 saw the formation of St. Albert's first junior A hockey team. Local businessmen Ron Yanosik and Garth Leask announced that they would head up a club in the newly formed Edmonton Metropolitan Junior Hockey League, which would begin play in October of that year alongside representatives from Fort Saskatchewan, Sherwood Park, the University of Alberta, north Edmonton and the South Side Athletic Club.
Another new addition to the town that month was the St. Albert Motor Inn, the owners of which were eager to break ground on their site at the corner of St. Albert Trail and Ball Avenue. Town council granted their development permit in September 1972, and president Sam Shapiro told the Gazette they hoped to break ground by November. The hotel, he estimated, would cost $1.5 million and employ 75 people.
As it had throughout the Gazette's history to this point and would again in the future, the topic of St. Albert amalgamating with Edmonton cropped up in September 1973. That month, the City of Edmonton released a 92-page report entitled The Future of This City, which outlined a plan for a 300-square-mile annexation that would include St. Albert and Sherwood Park. Edmonton Ald. Ron Hayter told the Gazette that he didn't object to the principle of the report, but he did take issue with the fact that it was released by Edmonton's mayor of the day, Ivor Dent, without consulting with the rest of council.
A big occasion that month was the opening of the Percy Page Centre in the old Mission Park School building at 13 Mission Ave. About 400 people turned out for the opening of the centre, which was designed to house the offices of several Alberta amateur sports organizations.
While there were openings, September 1973 also marked the end of an era in St. Albert business, when Gene Perron sold his family's downtown store. Prior to that, there had been at least one Perron merchant somewhere along the town's main street for more than 80 years straight, starting with Fleuri Perron, who served on St. Albert's first town council and also as its mayor.
In September 1975, figures from a recent civic census were released, showing that St. Albert's population had increased to 21,343. That was an increase of more than 2,000 from the previous year and more than double the population from 1969.
Also in September 1975 came a possible move by the Town of St. Albert to discontinue advertising in the Gazette. Edmonton's Sun Colorpress was ready to start delivering an alternate newspaper in St. Albert at the time, and was offering the town an advertising rate nine per cent lower than that offered by the Gazette. Councillors mulled over the deal for another couple of weeks, until council ultimately decided to stick with the Gazette.
In September 1976, redevelopment of the downtown core was at the forefront as the town selected Ward & Associates, Applied Economics and Research Consultants to perform an economic study for a proposed $30-million plan. Also that month, town council decided to build a swimming pool at Fountain Park.
That same month, numerous residents of the town's southeast corner came to council to complain about the development explosion occurring there, feeling that their neighbourhoods would become too densely populated and traffic would become snarled.
In September 1977, word came down from the provincial government that a new courthouse would be built in St. Albert. At the time, court proceedings were held in the St. Albert Community Hall and the old Legion hall. Design work began immediately and construction was to finish in 1978 or 1979.
Meanwhile, Mayor Richard Plain announced that both a new arena in Akinsdale and the new Fountain Park swimming pool would likely have their openings delayed a month. The arena was now slated to open Dec. 20, while he said the pool might open by March 15, 1978 — although, in perusing Gazettes from September 1978, it still was not open by then, and the builders were then shooting for November of that year.
In September 1978, an issue that was top of mind for many parents in the St. Albert area was how to protect their children from "flashers" and possible child molesters after several recent complaints. Police told worried parents at one meeting at Robert Rundle School to keep a close eye on their children, especially in wooded areas and ravines.
The topic of St. Albert being annexed to Edmonton came to life again in September 1979. Early in the month, St. Albert assembled its team to go before the annexation hearings, the format was set, and a public hearing was called to determine how residents could get involved.
That month also saw the introduction of plans for a 150-acre sports and recreation complex that was planned for land between the Sturgeon River and Riel Drive. The plans called for a snowmobile track, a go-kart track, an archery range, a golf driving range and horse pavilion.
