BOWDEN - Coun. Wayne Milaney estimates $150,000 could be spent to renovate and improve the Bowden Rest Stop and he says the town should ask the province for money to do so.
Milaney made that suggestion during a town council meeting.
Late last year, the town told the province that if it didn't get funding to help operate the rest stop it would close the facility.
In December, Mayor Robb Stuart and chief administrative officer James Mason met in Edmonton with Transportation Minister Brian Mason, who said the province was willing to provide $50,000 a year to operate the facility and might look at providing money to help fund updates and improvements to it.
Late last month, Milaney noted he and chief administrative officer James Mason had toured the rest stop and overall, concluded the place is in decent shape.
ìI was kind of pleasantly surprised, you know. I mean, there's a little bit of aesthetics to improve,î Milaney said.
He said toilet partitions need to be fixed up and the roof needs some work. Also, some planks on benches are ìrotted outî and there needs to be ìa bit of a cleanup of some of the tile in the showers.î
ìWe could probably spend $150,000. But you know what? A hundred and fifty thousand bucks to rebuild that site is a drop in the bucket, so I think James and I will collaborate on a report and send it to the government and see where it goes from there,î he said. ìA little bit of TLC (tender loving care) and it could look a lot better.î
ìI was there and I was pleasantly surprised,î Coun. Earl Wilson said. ìThere used to be an odour problem. Not now.î
Councillors Sandy Gamble and Sheila Church agreed the rest stop needs some work.
ìIt needs a little update,î Gamble said.
ìAny kind of building, you have to keep at it all the time,î Church said.
ìWhat we do know is it gets a lot of use,î Milaney said. ìBusiest corridor in Alberta and I think people use it as a refuge.î
Gamble and Church agreed with that.
Milaney said when he and Mason toured the facility, public works staff were there, cutting grass and weed whacking.
ìWe were quite impressed,î Milaney said. ìIt looked pretty tidy. I think it's a bit of a gem that we own.î
"It looked pretty tidy. I think it's a bit of a gem that we own."WAYNE MILANEYCOUNCILLOR TOWN OF BOWDEN
