As their younger population continues to grow, the Blackfalds is looking towards the future, so they can plan what civic facilities they will need to meet their growing demands. 

The companies of RC Strategies and ACI Architects Inc. have been awarded the tender to develop the Civic Facilities Development Strategy and Master Plan, which will guide the Town in a focused direction to plan the future of civic facilities, such as indoor rec centres, arts and culture amenities, public works operations, and enforcement services like RCMP and fire services. 

Director of Community Services Sean Barnes says they know they will eventually have to add and upgrade services, and this plan will help prepare them for those upgrades. 

“Once you hit those population thresholds, we are going to be looking at a second fire hall, an indoor recreation ice surfaces such as a twin arena, we are looking at an indoor aquatics facility, a public works show, and expansion of the RCMP building, and so on.”  

Barnes says that Blackfalds has been the fastest growing municipality in Canada for the past 5 years.

Their growth rate right now is around 4%, but last year it swelled to 8%. 

RC Strategies has worked with the Town previously on a number of important projects, and will ensure that this project will build upon and align with the objectives and recommendations of previous works and process, including the 2015 Recreation and Parks Master Plan, the 2016 Municipal Sustainability Plan, and the 2016 Social Needs Assessment Master Plan.

The project will be carried out in 5 distinct phases over an 8 month period, with the final master draft expected to be presented to council in May of 2018.

RC Strategies and ACI Architects Inc. winning tender bid was $103,480, the lowest of the 5 bids.

The project has a 2017 Capital Budget amount of $40,000 assigned along with the $25,000 in funding assigned for the Westwood Linear Park.

It was previously discusses that these two budgets would be combined due to the anticipated future site development requirements of the Multi-Plex Facility.

The remaining $38,480 will come out of the 2018 Capital Budget in order to finish the review.