The St. Albert Chamber of Commerce wants to find a new home but it won’t be at the corner of St. Albert Trail and Sturgeon Road.
The business group had requested the city turn over a portion of parkland next to the Sturgeon River so it could build a new business centre. City administration recommended against that option because the location has been designated park since 1901 and could be in the floodplain.
“For a hundred years this has been a park location in the City of St. Albert. Therefore from a land use planning perspective, we don’t believe it’s an appropriate use of that land,” said city manager Bill Holtby.
City council voted in favour of accepting the administration recommendation to turn down the land request. The two sides agreed instead to work together to find the chamber a new home.
“If we can find a location other than green space … then I think we should support this motion and try to pass something else,” said Coun. Cathy Heron.
The chamber currently shares a building with the city’s business and tourism development department. Their current home is the St. Albert Business and Visitor Centre on the southern edge of the city, on St. Albert Trail adjacent to Superstore. That building was designed for five people but now houses eight chamber and six city staff.
Administration agrees the space isn’t adequate to meet the needs of both organizations and is willing to help the chamber find a new location, Holtby said.
“We would certainly be prepared to work with them and advise them of some private property that is available,” he said.
The private sector has approached the city looking for “some decent alternatives” to get developed office space in the downtown core, Holtby said.
The chamber had sent a letter to council in February requesting the land for a 100-year lease at $1 a year. It suggested the old log cabin on the site would be “a great addition” to St. Albert’s heritage park.
The letter states the chamber’s intention to build a multi-storey centre for business to be home to the organization, a tourism centre and other business-oriented organizations.
“Since the city administration is opposed to this location, we’d like to suggest that we’re more than willing to work together with city administration to find a site that will work best for everybody,” chair Charlene Zoltenko told council.
The organization would be interested in developing downtown and could be a provider of much-needed office space, she said.
