After several rounds of public consultations, design, and redesign, the District of Sparwood has finally settled on a concept for Centennial Square.
Originally looking to redesign Centennial Square in July of 2019, several concepts were unveiled in December of that year.
The public decided against the initial designs during a feedback period in early 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the project was shelved for most of the year, before resurfacing in March of 2021.
That design was once again shot down, noting the concept did not offer enough parking, and Sparwood was sent back to the drawing board once more.
Mayor David Wilks said District Council made its final choice after nearly two hours of discussion on Tuesday night’s meeting.
“At the end of it, we approved with option three for the revamping of Centennial Square,” said Wilks. “Option three was to revitalize the small circle that’s in Centennial Square, as well as a portion of land. We’re in the process of negotiating with the Catholic church to purchase it from them. From that, it will be a very nice benched area with lots of trees. There’s also plans for a bandstand.”
Wilks added that Council has directed staff about the possibility of including a playground as well.
Council was presented with a few choices, and decided to opt-out of a large tower and water features.
Wilks said preliminary work on the plaza is expected to start later this year, with the bulk of the work to take place in 2022.
“The total cost of the project is approximately $2.2-million. We’re looking forward to a really nice revamped Centennial Square that I think everyone is going to enjoy. We look forward to seeing businesses also take advantage of that,” said Wilks.
Wilks said businesses near the square were consulted to help shape the final design. As mentioned earlier, the previous version was rejected, as it had too few parking spaces. The new concept has adequate parking that nearby businesses were happy with.
“They were able to retain their parking in Centennial Square, that was important to them. As a result of that, everything else fell into place,” explained Wilks.
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More: Sparwood adopts Financial Plan, including Fire Hall renovations and tax increases (May 5, 2020)
