St. Albert city council is being given three new conceptual designs of Millennium Park to pick from, as well as an update on the city's West Area Structure Plan (ASP), in Tuesday's committee of the whole meeting.
The new Millennium Park designs, which stem from a motion council passed back in May, represent three different price points: high, medium, and low cost.
The current Millennium Park design received initial council approved in 2018, however, council discussed their displeasure with the design at multiple points this year. The main issue identified by multiple members of council was that there wasn't enough open space, nor was there any clear views of the Sturgeon River from the park, which is the undeveloped area separating St. Albert Place and Lions Park.
The 2018 design's pavilion building and water feature that would double as a social skating rink in the winter months also faced some scrutiny from council earlier this year.
According to a new administrative report to council, the original design with its estimated budget of $16.9 million, can still be considered an option for council to move forward with, however the three new designs all have lower estimates.
The new high cost option, according to the report, has a budget of $16.6 million and would require cutting down 19 per cent more trees in the area, which would then increase the amount of open space by nearly 6,000 square metres and improve river views.
The new medium cost option comes with a drastically smaller pavilion building and no water feature, and the same level of tree removal. This option's budget is listed as $13.8 million.
The low cost option features no pavilion building or water feature, however fewer trees will need to be removed to still increase the amount of open space by almost 5,000 square feet. This option's budget is listed as $9.5 million.
Council's committee of the whole will have the opportunity to ask questions or direct administration to make further changes to the design concepts on Tuesday.
West ASP update
City staff will be giving council another update on the work being done to finalize a draft version of the city's West ASP, which is a legally required planning document that's been in development for nearly two years.
The ASP stretches from Carrot Creek to the west, Ray Gibbon to the east, LeClair Way to the south, and slightly past Villeneuve Drive to the north, and contains the land that will eventually become the long-talked about Lakeview Business District; a potential recreational centre; and the city's Badger Lands, which were once planned to be home to the city's solar farm.
The most up-to-date land use map for the area covered under the ASP also shows three school sites, including the future school thought to be semi-incorporated into the future recreation centre as well as a small school site on the Badger Lands, which is a new addition to the ASP's land use map.
A new report to council about the West ASP states that a final draft is thought to be finished and and ready for publication in May or June of next year. The delay, according to the report, is due to few a technical studies still being reviewed.
Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing and complete the first of three readings of the ASP next June.
