Fort Macleod pulled out all the stops Tuesday in a final push to win the bid to host the $100-million Alberta police college.
The town held nothing back yesterday morning during a tour by the four-member MLA committee that will make the final decision.
“It’s probably two of the most important hours in our community’s history,” Mayor Shawn Patience said.
MLA committee chairman Ivan Strang and members Mary Anne Jablonski, Fred Lindsay and Len Mitzel spent Tuesday visiting all four communities on the short list.
The MLAs were joined by Alberta Solicitor General special projects co-ordinator Bill Meade and Eric Underwood, director of the property development branch of Alberta Infrastructure.
“Obviously we were very excited,” Patience said. “It’s an incredible opportunity for us.”
The government delegation landed at the Fort Macleod airport shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The visitors were loaded into three Yukons loaned for the occasion by Scougall Motors and driven by Gordon MacIvor, Shawn Wells and Dave McNab.
Patience, Ronda Reach and Christine Trowbridge were also in the vehicles as guides as the delegation made its way to the proposed college site on the southeast corner of Fort Macleod.
From there the delegation was toured through town and shown the 1884 North West Mounted Police Barracks provincial historic site.
The tour included other important Fort Macleod features such as the hospital, schools, River Valley Wilderness Park and the locations of two new subdivisions.
The next stop on the tight schedule was at the Town Hall, where presentations were made by members of the police college task force committee and other guests.
“It was basically a 20-minute summary of the bid and why Fort Macleod should be the site,” Patience said.
Patience officially welcomed the guests, and Dr. Alan Poytress delivered a prayer to bless the visit. Greetings were brought from the office of Livingstone-Macleod MLA Dave Coutts. The visitors then heard presentations by Gordon MacIvor, Stasha Donahue, Blood Tribe Chief Charles Weasel Head, Harley Bastien of the Piikani Nation, and Patience.
The delegation then moved on for a short tour of The Fort Museum of the North West Mounted Police.
“We wanted to give them a sense of the history Fort Macleod has with policing,” Patience explained.
From there it was on to the Empress Theatre, where the visitors were introduced to the many officials from other towns and municipalities in attendance to support the Fort Macleod bid. The MLAs, Meade and Underwood then viewed the six-minute DVD prepared in support of the bid, which included interviews with people from all sectors of the Fort Macleod community.
There was a huge turnout of Fort macleod visitors at the Empress Theatre, encouraged by notices sent in the mail, posters placed around town, and personal calls from councillors Ken Williams, Brian Reach, Mike Bourassa, Christine Trowbridge, Sharon Monical and Gordon Wolstenholme and their helpers.
The visitors were then loaded into a caravan of classic cars co-ordinated by Harry Urwin for the trip back to the airport.
Patience said he has been overwhelmed by the manner in which the community got behind the bid, and the MLAs’ visit.
“The offers of support we have had have been wonderful,” Patience said.