By Greg Nikkel
Weyburn city council approved the design for a monument to the former Souris Valley facility, to be built as part of the entrance to Riverwood, the residential subdivision built on the site of the former mental hospital.
Ross Keith, owner of Nicor Developments, explained to council at their meeting on Monday evening aspects of their design for the entrance to Riverwood, which includes materials salvaged from Souris Valley, which was demolished in 2009, and admitted he wished the monument had been built two years ago.
“We have a better concept that respects the history of the building. We think it could be done at a slightly lower price, and will be a better product,” said Keith, noting the city is paying one-third of the cost and Nicor is paying two-thirds, as per their development agreement with the city set in 2012.
“This building was a major building, at one time one of the biggest buildings in the British Empire. It just doesn’t make sense to leave these materials in a pile. This will be built entirely of salvaged materials,” said Keith.
Asked what time-line Nicor has for building the pair of monuments, council was told they intend to build them in the spring as soon as they are able to, with some tweaking of the engineering needed before then since the structure design was changed.
The design as shown to city council is a matching pair of monuments with a concrete base, and on the top are the provincial coat of arms salvaged from the front entrance to Souris Valley.
The total cost is estimated at between $150,000 and $180,000, depending on what final tweaking is needed to the design.
“We went through the pile of materials in the city yard and measured everything. It will be built on a concrete base and this material will be placed on it,” said Keith, noting this design is at a lower cost than what was originally proposed.
“This was a very prestigious building, and we don’t want an image that will lower the standard of it,” said Coun. Dick Michel. “There’s nothing left of it. It’s very important that the proper respect is shown for it.”
City engineer Sean Abram said this was the third design that he’s seen for this monument from Nicor, and in his opinion is the best design put forward.
Keith assured council this will be a top quality monument, noting they have experience with heritage buildings in Regina, and they adhere to standards and guidelines set for preserving heritage buildings.
He said while sales at Riverwood have been slow in the last couple of years, he pointed out that they in this development for the long term, pointing out a group of residents have begun a fledgeling community association that has put forward an idea to develop a park area in Riverwood.
“I’m still excited about the prospects for the long term. We’re going to have a little community that will stand on its own, this will be a worthy new site,” said Keith.
The community association he referred to would like to develop a park area for children, using the municipal reserve in the development, and as it’s small, they have asked Nicor to gift Lot 22 beside it so they can develop the park more fully.
“We will make sure this is something you would approve of. That is just an idea at this point, and there’s been some discussion with your administration about that,” said Keith.
Council heard an update on the post office bell monument and plans for 2017 from the city’s Parks Board.
On the monument for the post office bell, for which the steel structure has been started adjacent to City Hall, Coun. Jeff Chessall noted the board is waiting for a couple of quotes for the roof structure. The city welder has been installing the rails, and the wording for the plaque was approved by the Mryglod family who donated the bell.
The parks board approved a quote of $1,645 for a bronze plaque to be installed on the monument.
If the timing works out, the post office bell monument may be unveiled on Family Day, which is on Monday, Feb. 20, to coincide with the city’s plans for Winterfest that day.
The plans for Winterfest were also listed as including outdoor activities at Jubilee Park from 1-3 p.m., free swimming at the Leisure Centre from 1-5 p.m., a craft class in the “Fun in the Sun” room from 2-4 p.m., and free public skating from 1-5 p.m.
The Rotary Club will serve free hot chocolate and hot dogs, and the board is hoping to enlist another service club to help with the outdoor activities.
The board received a total of 28 photos for the Tatagwa calendar contest. The winners will be chosen, and 100 calendars will be ordered and sold as a fundraiser for the Tatagwa Parkway in 2017.
The board has preliminary plans to hold two cross-country ski clinics in January. Coun. Chessall will be checking with the Regina Ski Club to find out if they will be able to help the city with the clinics.
Also coming up in 2017 will be International Trails Day on Father’s Day, June 18, and the Opportunity Road Race, for which the race committee will resume planning in February.
The board was told of plans by the Weyburn Arts Council to commemorate Canada’s 150th birthday with a public art display along the boardwalk.
They have asked the parks board’s permission to use the banner poles along the boardwalk to display 16 banners featuring original art work by local artists. The plan is to display the banners in September and October to correspond with Culture Days.
The parks board indicated their full support of this project, and the arts council is being advised to move forward with planning.
Coun. Michel said he will respond to concerns that were raised at the all-candidates forum in October during the civic election about the state of sidewalks in Weyburn.
He told council that he and friend Pat Maloney are pledging to walk every sidewalk in the city of Weyburn, and will make a photographic record of the sidewalks to catalogue the condition they are in, and where repairs or replacements are needed.
“I like to walk, as you know,” he said, noting he and Maloney will start this project in the spring, hoping that they will be able to do it in a year so they make a comprehensive list of what sidewalks need fixing.
