Athabasca County’s Tourism and Economic Development (TED) Committee is putting a call out for ideas on how to use the Old Brick School.
The committee is kicking off its Brick School Use Study, a three-phase study designed to be complete in the spring. At the end of the process, the committee hopes to have shovel-ready plans in hand complete with concept designs and working drawings, according to TED officer Robert Buckle.
“It starts at the very beginning with answering the question, what are we going to use the building for?” he said. “That’s significant because obviously your use of the building will determine some of the design implications of what’s required.”
First, a steering committee must be established for the project, which would be composed of two councillors each from Athabasca County and the Town of Athabasca, one member-at-large from each municipality, the Athabasca Regional Multiplex manager and Buckle as a non-voting member.
The steering committee will then compile profiles of similar projects in other communities and consult local organizations that are interested in using the facility, Buckle said.
“The plan is to have each user group document their needs, do kind of a needs assessment from their point of view, and how they would be connected with brick school,” he said.
Buckle said the ideal situation would be a number of groups sharing space within the Old Brick School, in an effort to maximize the area.
There will also be three public open houses where community members will have a sneak peak at some of the proposed ideas, and be given a chance to voice their opinions.
Town and county councils would be making the final decisions, however, Buckle said.
He admitted the usage study’s three-month timeline is ambitious, but it is meant to be.
“They are kind of ambitious timelines. What I find is these types of projects, generally once you get started on them they have a life of their own,” he said. “We want to target a more ambitious timeline than a less ambitious.”
Funding for the use study comes from a provincial grant the town and county received last March for $200,000 from Alberta Community Partnerships.
Buckle said the grant money would cover all costs for the usage study, including hiring a consultant and getting concept designs and working drawings.
“We’ll want to have at tender-ready package so at the end of this we don’t have to do any further work with another consultant,” he said. Buckle added as soon as the steering committee is established, they will begin “shopping for grants” for construction.
Dates for the open houses have not been announced yet, but according to the use study’s timeline are set to occur in March and April.
