Town of Drumheller officially launched its paid parking trial on Monday, October 2, which will continue through the month of October, as a way to ensure residents, businesses, and Municipal Enforcement officers are prepared for the full program beginning in May 2024.
The program will help raise funds to offset increased pressure on municipal services and infrastructure over the tourist season, identified between May and October, and although residents and those working in the municipality are able to apply for an exemption with a residential parking permit, some stakeholders have concerns about potential impacts the program could have.
“While we support the concept of paid parking to generate revenue to support the Town’s infrastructure, at this point we are not certain what impact the parking fee will have on visitation to the World’s Largest Dinosaur,” says Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce Executive director Heather Bitz.
She explains the cost for parking will vary for visitors depending on the time of year, noting visitors at times have a line up just to make the climb. As the paid parking trial was only recently announced, Ms. Bitz says there has not been any visitor comments at this time, though the Chamber has plans to listen to and share any feedback it receives with the Town.
Another facility which could be impacted by the paid parking program is the Drumheller Memorial Arena, which shares a parking lot with the World’s Largest Dinosaur.
Boedy Shields, director of Operations for the Drumheller Dragons, tells the Mail, “The Drumheller Dragons feel that the paid parking initiative that is being put into place on October 2 will have a large negative impact on the organization, and potentially attendance at home games.”
He says the additional cost for parking “could be a major deterrent,” especially for those who are travelling from surrounding areas outside of Drumheller.
“The message from our fans and supporters is that they are very frustrated with this paid parking project, and the Dragons organization stands with our fans in that viewpoint,” Mr. Shields adds.

There is a new track champion at Dinosaur Downs, and he is a local driver.
Mike Hansen has been involved in motorsports for years and is a long-time volunteer at Dinosaur Downs. While he put away his helmet and driving gloves for more than two decades last year, he got back into a car last season.
It was an excellent year, and he ended the season as rookie of the year.
In year two, he did even better and is now track champion He was in good standing going into the final weekend of racing on September 2-4. He drove well for the first two events, but the Monday races were cancelled because rain made the track too wet to go ahead with races. Despite this, he ended up on top.
“I am the points champion for IMCA Canada for Drumheller,” said Hansen. “ It is quite a thing because last year I was rookie of the year, and this year to win track champion is pretty cool.”
This new career comes after 25 years of not being in a car, with the exception of demolition derby events. Prior to this, he had experience in street stock and hobby stock racing and also had a super stock car. Last season he bought an IMCA Modified car with a front Chevelle clip, pumping out 450 horsepower. Track speeds can reach up to 100 miles per hour on the ⅜- mile oval.
“There are some fast cars here, there is no doubt about it,” he said.
“It has done pretty well. I am pretty impressed with what it has done for an old car.”
For a moment it looked like he might not be racing on the final weekend. He was racing in Rimbey a couple of weeks prior when he got into a crash. It was touch and go to get the car back together.
“I was coming out of corner two and got tagged in the back end, and the car shot right into the wall head-on. It took them a little more than a half hour to get me out of the car,” he said.
Whether he will defend his title. He says he has not decided. His plan was to race for two years, sort of a bucket list exercise.
“We’ll see what the winter will bring.”