With no large-scale projects, there weren't any surprises in Drumheller’s 2013 building permit numbers, with permits almost half from the previous year at $5,950,050.
    Director of Community Services Paul Salvatore says “I think in 2013 we had lower than expected building permits issued.”
    “We’re looking into 2014 with optimism.”
    Last year’s total of $11,219,916 included the $1,741,377 for the Town of Drumheller town hall renovation.
    For 2013, the town issued  25 commercial permits totalling $1,601,000.  The town issued a permit to the Quality Inn for $450,000 that included room renovations, the lounge area renovation,  the addition of a breakfast bar, and extending the carport out front.
    Expanding inside storage space at the Drumheller Co-op is the reason for their $450,000 permit.
    There was a single industrial permit issued in the amount of $150,000 for a pump station for utilities for Kneehill County on Town  of Drumheller land near the penitentiary.
    The institutional total of $440,000 includes a booster station upgrade for Kneehill County and two other projects.
    Campus Alberta moved from its previous location to downtown and did some interior renovations on its new location.
    The 7th Day Adventist Church in Newcastle made an addition to provide better access to people with limited mobility.
    Platinum Chemical Solutions holds the single industrial permit of $150,000 for building renovations to include office space.
    The largest single category was in the residential permit sector, totalling $3,759,050.  Projects include eight new home starts, two mobile home placements, three relocated/modular manufactured homes, seven accessory buildings (such as sheds, detached garages), 42 renovations/additions, nine demolitions, and one additional unit to existing units under multi-housing.
    June holds the highest monthly total in the residential sector at slightly over a million dollars for permits issued in the month.
    “There’s about a million less in residential in 2013," Mayor Terry Yemen says.
    “The town was aware of some properties that were going to be developed but weren’t because of the flood and the uncertainty around future development.”
    There were no permits issued in 2013 under the recreational category - the last was in 2009 for a storage building at the Dinosaur Trail Golf & Country Club.