The provincial government has committed $20,000 a year to the operations of the Bowden Heritage Rest Area from now until 2016.
At its meeting on May 26, Bowden council gave town staff approval to enter into an agreement with the province for the operating cash.
“This is for operating the facility each of these years basically from the May long weekend through to the Thanksgiving long weekend in October,” said Andy Weiss, the town's chief administrative officer, in an email.
The rest area opened for the season on May 16.
In April, council had voted to keep the rest area closed until a deal with the province was finalized.
That same month, an Alberta Transportation spokeswoman said the province is “reviewing an overall strategy for safety rest areas along Highway 2.”
“The location of the Bowden rest area is unlikely to be a long-term solution because it only serves southbound motorists and we have plans in the longer term for an interchange at Highway 587,” said Christine Way. “However, we recognize that a short-term solution is needed because we do recognize that in the meantime before that interchange is built that this is useful for motorists along Highway 2.”
Prior to the May 26 meeting, council approved an agreement allowing Joe and Marie Foster, owners of Bowden's Foster's New and Used store, to run the rest area for the season on a “trial basis,” Weiss said in a telephone interview.
“In essence they will look after opening and closing and cleaning the facility in exchange for the use of one of the empty rooms in the facility as a small (retail) concession.”
He added the agreement with the couple is a way to “try and reduce the negative financial impact of running” the rest area.
Last year, the town learned it would no longer receive a grant from the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation that it has relied on since the 1990s to run the facility. The town typically puts roughly $30,000 into the operation and maintenance of the rest area, which opened in 1984 and includes a campsite often used for picnics located just north of the Bowden Golf Course and adjacent to a rest stop on the southbound lanes of Highway 2.
Weiss said the town still has $30,000 budgeted for the rest area this season but that amount could be reconsidered now due to the agreements with the province and the Fosters.
Town money may still be needed for the rest area, he added, due to maintenance needs at the facility.
