Slave Lake’s new government centre and library is ‘on track’ and should go to tender this fall. That’s the assessment of Betty Osmond, Slave Lake’s town manager and the person who should know if anyone does.
It’s a big project – close to $30 million – and much has yet to be finalized. But as of last week it was pretty much on schedule.
“I think everything is on track. It’s still on schedule for the project to go to tender in September,” Osmond says.
How construction firms respond to the tender is the big unknown, even with current inflationary trends factored into the budget. If bids come in too high, it could scuttle the project, although the town, along with its provincial partners, has been working to mitigate that possibility. But you never know.
At the moment, the zoning change that would allow the construction of the provincial building, town offices and library on the Sawridge Plaza Mall site are working their way through the process. At the same time, the borrowing by-law for the $20 million needed for the provincial offices is in process. The town borrows the money and the province pays it off over 20 years.
“The province is paying 100 per cent of their costs,” says Osmond.
On July 12, town council held a meeting to deal specifically with the land use and other by-law changes needed for the project to go ahead. Council actually paved the way by amending the Municipal Development Plan, the Downtown and Main St. Area Plan and the Land Use By-Law. “The pace is picking up now,” Osmond told council after the vote.
“There’ll be a lot happening in the next couple of months.”

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