From the town of Ponoka:

The public is invited to the grand opening of the new Ponoka Civic Building on Friday, May 24.

The event will begin with a formal grand opening ceremony at 2:30 p.m. followed by a free community BBQ, facility tours and information displays.

The Ponoka Civic Building is home to the new Ponoka Jubilee Library which shares space on the main floor with the new Ponoka Learning Centre operated by Campus Alberta Central (CAC) in partnership with the Ponoka & Rimbey Adult Learning Society.

CAC is a joint venture between Red Deer College (RDC) and Olds College, which offers access to post-secondary education programs and courses to youth and adult learners in more than 20 central Alberta communities, including Ponoka at the new Learning Centre.

  • The upper two floors of the Ponoka Civic Building house the Town of Ponoka Council Chambers and Administrative Offices.
  • There is additional lease space on the third floor for the building owner to lease to other tenants.
  • The Town leases about 28,000 square feet of space in the Ponoka Civic Building, including the space occupied by the Library.
  • The Town subleases about 5,000 square feet of space on the main floor to CAC for the Ponoka Learning Centre.

“Campus Alberta Central is pleased to partner with the Town of Ponoka in the opening of our newest Learning Centre. Working with regional partners to identify potential programs that meet the specific needs of the Ponoka area will provide many new opportunities for learners in the region,” says Joel Ward, President and CEO of RDC and Chair of CAC.

Programs coming to Ponoka:

  • CAC plans to offer a Heavy Equipment Operator Certificate Program at the Ponoka Learning Centre in September 2019.
  • A Health Care Aide Certificate Program is scheduled to be offered in Ponoka in February 2020.

“Health care and agricultural programming are two areas that have been identified by the community and our First Nations partners for early consideration at the Ponoka Learning Centre,” says Stuart Cullum, President and CEO of Olds College and Vice Chair of CAC.

Cullum notes CAC is currently inviting Ponoka-area citizens to fill out a Learning Needs Survey to determine what other types of programs it should consider offering at the Ponoka Learning Centre in the future.

The survey is available online at www.ponokarimbeyalc.com/cac-programs-in-ponoka.