County seeking more accurate numbers for investment in new Wheatland Lodge

By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter

Wheatland County Council has directed its administration to work with the Town of Strathmore to establish a site plan more accurately for the proposed new Wheatland Lodge.

The direction was made as the county wishes to know how much land would be required for the facility and how much capital investment would be necessary.

“The number that the lodge has been using on their deal is $1.715 million, but that assessment is based on nine acres of land. The lodge is actually sitting on, I believe, is sitting on 4.7 or 4.9 acres and we need to get an assessment for the (correct) amount of land,” said Councilor Tom Ikert. “Part of that land looks like it would be worth quite a bit of money, especially once the lodge is there so I’m pretty sure the town isn’t going to be donating the whole nine acres to the new lodge site.”

Ikert put forth a motion to council to direct administration to work with the Town of Strathmore to provide an independent assessment of the lands that will be required of the new building site.

The move will be an important step in establishing the facility and necessary to complete before additional funding from the province may be acquired. 

“The building committee has made an ask of the province for $23 million, which is half of the cost of the build with the new lodge beds and the SL4 units,” explained Ikert. “It’s very important that we know exactly how much money we have so that we can put the numbers together when we’re trying to get our share of the $23 million.”

He added County Council will not want to be caught up in a situation where a $46 million facility is under construction and another “couple million dollars” of investment is unexpectedly required.

County administration suggested working with the Town of Strathmore to determine if there is a lot size for the proposed new build, then proceeding to put a placeholder in the 2022 operating budget to have it funded from unallocated surplus.

The motion was carried and discussions regarding the future lodge will likely resume post the upcoming Oct. 18 municipal election.