Town planning consultations begin
By Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean Times Contributor
Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean Photo
Around 30 people were in attendance for the initial consultation workshop which included break-out sessions into smaller groups with planners to talk about what they feel are Strathmore’s best opportunities and constraints.
Long-term planning is essential, but Michael von Hausen, president of MVH Urban Planning and Design Inc., asked the question: “What can we do now?”
“When I first came to Strathmore,” von Hausen said, “I couldn’t find downtown. There are thousands of potential visitors driving by on Highway 1 every day; invite them in.”
The focus groups on Monday night were tasked with highlighting three great features of the downtown core and three areas of improvement. While the final tallies are not yet in, one table focused on walkability, Kinsmen Park and the history. Signage was singled out as a necessity, as was design cohesion and programming.
On Tuesday morning, the group reconvened for a recap of the group work the previous evening and also welcomed some new faces.
The first opportunity, von Hausen noted, was the traffic driving by every day, but they need a reason to stop rather than pushing on to Calgary.
“Green spaces; Strathmore has all of these beautiful green spaces, and an amazing park right near downtown,” he said.
Adding some green space visible from the highway would offer “a preview to what the community is all about. It’s clean, people care, make it shine.”
Events and planning were also mentioned as ways to bring more people into the downtown core. Strathmore has the Canada Day celebrations, Meet Your Neighbour and farmers markets, but there’s a lot of room to keep building. One attendee mentioned tying in a festival to the town’s history and another suggested expanding Stampede events to include events downtown.
The final summary should be completed later this week for the town and will be presented to town council afterward. The planning committee does not know what will come after it is presented to council but are hopeful there will be more opportunities for community engagement and compiling feedback from residents and businesses on what Strathmore should be considering for future planning.