Close to 300 people crowded outside a packed Empress Theatre on Tuesday to throw their full-fledged support behind Fort Macleod’s bid for the Alberta Police and Peace Officer Training Centre.
The Empress was the last stop on the four-person site selection committee’s whirlwind tour of Fort Macleod and residents and supporters from other southern Alberta communities pulled out all the stops and took one last opportunity to make themselves heard.
The atmosphere was electric as a few shops on Main Street closed their doors and the ones that remained open had workers peering out the front window.
Support for the $100-million project was unanimous.
“I just think Fort Macleod is the right place for the college,” Taylore Bailey, armed with a sign and balloon, said at the rally. “It has the history of policing here and the whole town supports it. It would be a great thing for the town.”
For Robin Fehr, who came from Lethbridge to show his support, the long and storied history of the North West Mounted Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is also a factor.
“The police history here is so amazing, this is just a natural place for the college,” he said.
Stephen Delano also pointed to the history, and the spirit with which Fort Macleod has approached the project.
“We have all this policing history in the community, which makes this the perfect place for the college,” he said. “I know the community would welcome it and all the people that would come here with open arms.”
Charlotte Nixon agreed.
“I’ve worked in Fort Macleod for three years and everyone has been so supportive of this,” she said. “It would be a phenomenal addition to the town and this has been a great show of overwhelming support.”
Clayton Orr believes the college is an opportunity to bring something different to Fort Macleod.
“We’ve been relying on tourism for so long, we need to get some new things in here to bring growth and families to Fort Macleod,” he said. “To bring something else would be great. And hopefully we’ll still be able to keep the small town atmosphere that we have here and not end up like a big city.”
After viewing a video promoting the town as the best site for the college, the committee, chairman Ivan Strang, Mary Anne Jablonski, Fred Lindsay and Len Mitzel, found themselves staring into huge numbers of supporters and listening to chants of “We want the college” just before they were whisked away to the airport to catch a flight to their next destination.
