Gathering in the gymnasium of St. Anthony’s School, the Badlands Community Facility Steering Committee heard Drumheller’s concerns and thoughts at the first of three public meetings regarding the much-debated community facility.
Mayor Bryce Nimmo, along with some of the eleven members of the steering committee and five Town Councillors, presented their vision of the possibilities a multi-use “hub” would bring to the tourist based economy of Drumheller.
“This meeting will give us an opportunity to find out what the facility should look like, we don’t know that yet,” Nimmo said.
Facility priorities outlined for the twelve people in attendance were the hot-button words “multiuse”, “social hub” for community, cultural and recreational activities, and to provide services to satisfy the majority of users.
Overviewing the 2008 Census Survey which indicated the citizen’s top-wants for the facility are a community centre, aquatics upgrades, a second ice sheet, a fieldhouse (used for soccer, lacrosse, running, etc.), and an indoor children's playground.

Golden Hills School Division has gone forward with their plan to close the Grade 9 programs at Rockyford School and Hussar School.
    At the Board’s January 27 meeting, they made the motion to close two of the programs and have them transferred to other Golden Hills School Division schools. Unlike a school closure, which is defined as the closure of three or more grades, there are no more public meetings to discuss the changes. Come next school year, there will no longer be Grade 9 programs in Hussar or Rockyford.
    “There is no further requirement other than to meet with the parents directly impacted and that will occur,” said Golden Hills board chair Ron Kenworthy.
    He says transfers in the past have followed the same procedures, and to remain fair these transfers would follow the same protocol.
    “We felt there has been an awful lot of consultation about this, and there has been discussion with the last three or four boards,” he said. “We knew what people felt…in the letters, faxes and the e-mails we received, we hoped there might be some solution people had, but there was nothing that impacts the solution.”