Now that the Badlands Community Facility has opened to high praise, it is amazing to think the project was nearly sunk before it even began. If it weren’t for the persistence of a small group of community leaders the Badlands Community Facility would not be here today.
A petition to save John Anderson Park sparked a plebiscite which was included in the October 2007 election, asking to build a proposed community facility on the site. It was narrowly defeated and Council honoured the wishes of the electorate.
A small group of community businessmen were not satisfied with this result. They saw the potential of the Badlands Community Facility to provide recreational facilities to residents, promote fitness and give the community a venue to host larger events and conferences, which in turn would strengthen the local economy attracting more guests to the valley. It would also spur economic development and employee retention.
Their vision has certainly come true and in just a few short months of being open the Community Facility has provided all of these things. In the fall of 2007, however it was off the agenda.
“The (development of a community facility) had ended at that point, and that is when we came together as a group of businessmen and figured out how to move this thing forward,” said Tony Lacher, who was involved from early on. He remembers small meetings with about a dozen individuals.
“We figured out how it happened and why it happened and where to go from there… this was something Drumheller needed and it had to happen, and how can we make it happen as a citizen’s group.”
Bryce Nimmo who was mayor at the time remembers this moment well.
“It was during the by election that it was turned down by just a matter of a handful of votes … it was very close,” said Nimmo. “They (the group) started to work almost immediately.”
The group managed to get the idea back on the agenda.
“The only way to overturn that was to have an actual plebiscite,” said Lacher.
While it was emotion that won the day in the narrowly defeated plebiscite in 2007, the committee focused on what the community needed and how the community would benefit.
The first order of business was to find out what residents wanted. They received that on August 8, 2008. A survey in conjunction with the municipal census showed that 78 per cent of the community indicated support for community facility development, a clear indication that some sort of development of infrastructure was needed. Of the results 48 per cent said a gymnasium/field house should be developed immediately.
This was the vindication the group needed to see they were on the right track.
While the process seemed plodding, it was sprint to the finish. A new plebiscite was drafted and scheduled for November 3 of that year.
“It could have been defeated by the community at that time,’ said Lacher.
A public campaign to get their message out ensued, at times words, on the street and in letters to the editor were less than cordial as residents debated everything from location, taxes and what the facility would contain. Volunteers went door-to-door to talk to residents and to get out the vote.
“What it gave us was a clear message of whether it was the location people were against or the actual facility, at that point we knew that the community needed the facility.”
The results of the plebiscite were much clearer than the initial vote with 63 per cent voting in favour of the building.
Nimmo said part of the success was because it was a community led initiative.
“More than likely it was the participation of people in town, and not just the council pushing it. It was the citizens that said it was important,” said Nimmo. I think people learned more about it…there was more information put out.”
“We had a greater vision of Drumheller and what it needed to take it to the level not only for residents and families but the future growth and attraction of business and families to Drumheller. We saw it as a bigger part of growing Drumheller into something that was bigger and better,” said Lacher.
