The City of Cranbrook is looking to start brainstorming on how the block around city hall could look in the future. Currently its city-owned buildings are city hall, the old fire station, the current RCMP detachment and the Studio and Stage Door.
It also houses the old electrical brick building originally slated for demolition by council. The building will now likely be preserved by a group of volunteers intent on seeing it live on. The prospect of keeping that building brought the future of the space to the attention of Coun. Bob Whetham.
Whetham brought up the need for a vision of the property at a council meeting in the summer, as a result of the swell of support for preserving the brick building. He was looking for public input on the future of the city-owned property, since at some point in the future the RCMP building will need to be updated, just as the city hall building will need to be expanded.
The workshop is meant to bring about a vision for what the whole space could look like in the future.
Rob Veg is the senior planner for the city and will lead the workshop.
"What we're ultimately trying to achieve is to identify some of the requirements and get public input on the future use of city-owned land and buildings in the vicinity of city hall," Veg said. "That will include the fire hall, RCMP, the garage out back and all the city owned land."
At the workshop, Veg will present the current layout and explain the scope of what they are seeking for input.
"It's going to be a hands on workshop to solicit this input," he said.
Then he will take that input and prepare a report for council if all goes to plan.
The workshop is Tuesday, Nov. 5 from 7-9 p.m. at the Manual Training Centre. Pre-registration is no later than Monday, Nov. 4. Pre-register by email to cityspace@cranbrook.ca or by calling Veg at 250-489-0241. The training centre is located at 1212 2nd Street North.