The Hole’s Greenhouses & Gardens stood on the corner of Boudreau Road and Bellerose Drive for decades. It was like a call to thousands of visitors and residents – gardeners and non-gardeners – who flocked to the site every summer.
It was one of Western Canada’s largest retail greenhouses until closing in 2011 when the operation was moved to the new Enjoy Centre on the edge of Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park.
The old greenhouse site is now about to be redeveloped and it presents a unique opportunity to not only honour Lois and Ted Hole and their family, so much a part of St. Albert’s recent history, but also to create something special for the city.
The land is prime real estate, being in such a key location, rising up from the banks of the Sturgeon River at one of the city’s busier intersections. It’s far too valuable to be left idle.
There are few, if any, such locations left in the city and it’s important that this site be developed properly. There is probably no way to maintain the garden aspect that’s been part of the site since Lois and Ted began gardening the 200-acre farm in the 1950s – it became the Hole’s Greenhouses & Gardens in 1979 – but we hope the city, the Hole family and the developer will work together to create a lasting landmark that will also attract visitors and residents alike.
Edgar Development Corp., out of Vancouver, held an open house Tuesday evening to outline its plans to create Bellerose Village, a 60,177-square-foot commercial development. As expected, there was a fair amount of passion in the voices of those speaking of the plans.
But St. Albertans knew the site was never going to be turned into a park, and that it would become a commercial development instead of residential. And that’s a good thing. St. Albert needs more business more than it needs more high-end housing developments.
It’s good that the developers, even before Tuesday evening’s open house, were talking about elements like walkability, the site’s historical significance and, as their spokesman put it, “a higher quality of landscaping.”
Within a few minutes walking distance from the site is the water and skateboard park, Legion ball diamonds, the badminton club and the seniors Ironwood Estates. The Red Willow trails wander past on the other side of the river.
While the commercial development – assuming it has the usual assortment of stores – may be beneficial to the residents of the Oakmont and Erin Ridge residential areas, it would face a real challenge competing with the established Inglewood Square and St. Albert Centre just minutes away.
So it would likely be in the best interest of all involved in the development of the land, which would be split into three sections, that it has some special, unique appeal, just as the Hole’s greenhouses did before. And it’s not just the commercial development itself – it’s what gets built on the slope that runs from the greenhouse site down to the river. And while some suggest it would be ideal for residential, that would hardly make it a special place worthy of Lois Hole’s memory.
The hugely popular water and skateboard parks and the ball diamonds are fabulous for families and youngsters, but they’re probably a little busy and noisy for the growing numbers of St. Albert seniors.
With the developers talking about restaurants and coffee shops being included in their plans, perhaps an ideal accompaniment would be a park with picnic tables and sitting areas, where people out walking could take a break and enjoy a little peace and quiet. Certainly it would seem worth considering.
