Alberta’s economic slowdown is causing governments to re-examine their spending priorities, and the city of St. Albert should be no exception.
With the vast majority of city revenue derived from residential property taxes, continual tax increases can no longer be justified. Take, for example, the plans to build a second “St. Albert Place” across the street from our existing city hall. The growth of municipal government personnel is being used as the justification for building what promises to be a very expensive structure. However, options exist.
For example, the closure of Target stores in Canada provides our city council with the real opportunity to consider leasing the existing Target space, and moving our library from St. Albert Place to this new location. This would not only free up a huge amount of additional floor space within city hall, the Target location offers many positive features. The library would be centrally located, with abundant free parking for library users. Increased traffic flow into the overall shopping centre would benefit the existing merchants, and the Target store is a flat, one level building with easy access for all users.
Yes, some renovations would be required, but this cost will be a minor fraction of the cost of building another complete St. Albert Place. As the existing Target store is within a high-population-density area, an imaginative library could consider before and after school programs, providing not only a service to working families, but a great opportunity to expose young children to the joy of reading, and learning.
Our young adult population would also benefit from a welcoming addition to meet their friends and rediscover all the library has to offer. Our senior population would find the location far more accessible.
Will the city administration and the elected officials see the positive nature of this takeover? Will anyone comment or start a dialogue with the lease agents at Target?
Colleen Mcleod, St. Albert (a homeowner here for more than 38 years)
