Swift Current, SK, Major Construction Projects

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by Bankview

Swift Current, Saskatchewan

Population: 17,535 (2011)

The Rail Yards

Downtown From The Overpass


Central Avenue Looking South

Central Avenue Looking North

Warehouse District/Cheadle Street West

Central Avenue Businesses

Great Photos! It would be great if you could get some photos of some of the old properties in Swift Current. Example: Fire Hall, First United Church, Central School, Swift Current Funeral Home, Doc's Town, some new contructions and newer buildings in town ( Innovation Credit Union, MNP, Cypress Regional Hospital)

I believe the posted population of 17,000 is probably more precise than the 2011 stat btw

[wacko]

Originally Posted by kalin_10

I believe the posted population of 17,000 is probably more precise than the 2011 stat btw

I would have to disagree. I'm pretty sure the population of Swift Current has not grown by 2,000 people in the last two years.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by wacko

I would have to disagree. I'm pretty sure the population of Swift Current has not grown by 2,000 people in the last two years.

17,535 is the census agglomeration area in 2011. That is the City and area.

http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-re...&GK=CMA&GC=720

[Bankview]

Thanks! I appreciate the compliments.

Here are a couple more photos from that day which I had lying around.

[kalin_10]

Colin Powers
October 8, 2013
SwiftCurrentonline.com

The morning Tim Hortons run could be a little hectic this week, with both stores in Swift Current undergoing renovations.

The two projects will be bringing big changes, including the addition of a double-lane drive-thru at the downtown location on 1st Ave NW and Chaplin Street, which has caused its existing drive-thru to be closed for this week.

"Friday morning, we're going to be open up again with a whole new look and a whole new system to take your orders, to make it look better and make it faster," said Pete Fehr, Owner and Operator of the Swift Current Tim Hortons. "We just ask our customers and our guests to have patience with us for the next few days."

He adds that the downtown restaurant will remain open while the drive-thru is closed.

Meanwhile, the location on Highway 1, operated by Dade and Cory Getzinger, will be getting a major face-lift starting Wednesday, and Fehr says that includes a long-awaited addition to Swift Current.

"We're really excited about Cold Stone ice cream," he said. "The buzz in Swift Current has been about ice cream, and we're going to finally have it."

Fehr says Cold Stone Creamery will offer numerous flavours of hard ice cream, toppings and ice cream cakes right in the store.

The highway location will be closed for the renovations, but Fehr says the coffee will still be on.

"Tim Hortons has a trailer that they send out, and we operate out of that trailer for coffee and doughnuts," he added. "It will be a limited menu, like the paninis won't be at the highway, but you can always get it at the downtown store. Downtown will be hectic for the next couple of days, but then Friday morning at 6:00am, we'll be open with a brand new look and order station."

The renovations at the highway location are expected to be completed in November.

[armorand93]

I heard over at CPTDB that Swift Currents starting a public transit system, with older D30LFs and a few cutaway/arbocs. Is this true? And would anyone have a link?

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by armorand93

I heard over at CPTDB that Swift Currents starting a public transit system, with older D30LFs and a few cutaway/arbocs. Is this true? And would anyone have a link?

They've been working on establishing a scheduled route for awhile. If you look back further in the forum, there is a little discussion about it. I know the city has purchased a bus or two; however, I haven't heard anything further about the route being established as of yet.

[kalin_10]

Scott Larson
October 19, 2013
The Star Phoenix

We all know Saskatoon and Regina have been booming for the last few years, but smaller cities are also getting in on the action, says Alvaro Campos, market research analyst with ICR Commercial Real Estate.

ICR has just released its first-ever Small Market Outlook report that looks at the commercial retail market in nine smaller centres - Prince Albert, Yorkton, North Battleford, Swift Current, Lloydminster, Moose Jaw, Estevan, Martensville and Warman.

"When you think about Saskatchewan, you really only think of Saskatoon and Regina," Campos said. "But there is all of these little markets out there that are actually doing quite well and expanding."

Most of the retail vacancies in the smaller markets are in the four to six per cent range, except for Warman, Martensville and Yorkton which are closer to 10 per cent.

"But that is a little deceiving," he said. "There is interest fuelling those three markets for expansion so new developments are being constructed.

"Give them six to 10 months and (those three places) will be down to about six per cent or lower."

Campos said newer national tenants that have gone into Saskatoon and Regina are now moving into smaller centres.

"When you look at a restaurant like Original Joe's, they have opened up in Moose Jaw. Brown's Social House opened in Saskatoon this year and will soon open up in Yorkton."

ICR Report Highlights

Martensville Martensville has increased the inventory of commercial lands and lease space in the community for business ventures. Proposed or currently under construction projects include a Wellness Center (8,000 square feet), Black Iron Crossing, 721 Centennial Drive (8,000 square feet).

Warman The newest development in the city is The Legends Plaza shopping complex. Co-op is currently constructing a 25,000 square foot store on the site that is expected to open in the summer of 2014.

Prince Albert Recent construction of retail developments have been met with high demand as many of the new development areas are completely leased. As the city continues to grow, it is anticipated expansion of the retail sector will continue.

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw's boom is being driven by several multibillion dollar mega projects in the area, including the $3.25-billion K+S Potash Canada greenfield mine. There are also plans for a new $100.9 million hospital for the city which is nearing the construction phase. A new $27 million shopping Civic Centre Plaza is under construction.

Lloydminster The local economy is driven primarily by the petroleum industry. Agriculture remains an important economic activity, although many farmers in the area are sustained financially by lease payments resulting from oil wells drilled on their land. Retail trade is strong in the city as Lloydminster serves as a regional trading hub due to its location between Saskatoon and Edmonton.

Yorkton Yorkton is the third largest trading area in Saskatchewan and is a vibrant economic centre for the east central Saskatchewan region. Recent developments include the York Station which will consist of various phases totalling 100,000 square feet of retail space with anchor tenants such as Dollarama, Brown's Social House and Dad's Organic Market. Harvard Developments Inc. has recently prepared a 10 acre commercial development site called Broadway Corners by Parkland Mall in northeast Yorkton. The first phase of this project includes a Days Inn Hotel currently under construction.

North Battleford The southeast commercial district has an established retail commercial area that include Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire and Staples. Its north commercial district is anchored by both the Co-op and Sobey's grocery stores and is located adjacent to residential neighbourhoods.

Swift Current Development is expected to continue as investment has taken place in the commercial downtown core in efforts to revitalize the city's main area. Many new and existing businesses have developed along the highway commercial district, which allows them to take advantage of the high volume of traffic travelling along the Trans-Canada Highway.

Estevan Estevan has an expanding mix of national and international companies working side by side with owner operated retail outlets and home based businesses. The multitude of outlets provides an ever changing retail experience for locals and visitors on a daily basis for some and a quick shop for others.

The nature of the retail market in Estevan is growing stronger and becoming more dynamic as the city's economic development initiatives support the development of new retail projects.

[kalin_10]

Written by Jessica Vallee
January 8, 2014
http://www.swiftcurrentonline.com/in...762&Itemid=408

The Valley Ridge Subdivision is nearing the final phase of construction or so the city said in their most recent council meeting.

"The next step is the sidewalks, and streets and shallow utilities. Power, telephones and et cetera. So we're just working with AECOM to do some engineering services so we're ready to start construction as soon as spring break up comes along," said Mitch Minken, General manager of Infrastructure and Operations

He also mentions that the city is moving at an aggressive pace to meet deadlines with the completion of the approximately 50 lots.

"We're basically near sold out of property for residential development right now so it's critical to get these lots online early," said Minken.

They are working with AECOM for the planning, design and construction of these developments.

While the estimated construction completion date is August 8th of this year, Minken adds that they are hoping to begin selling by late spring.

[kalin_10]

Jessica Vallee
January 24, 2014
SwiftCurrentOnline.com



Swift Current and area residents were invited to an open house on the development of the city's Hillcrest Highway Commercial Area Plan Thursday to review the plan and give feedback.

The city is working on a comprehensive plan for the land located east of Memorial Drive, North of Paterson Drive and across from the Credit Union iplex that will be used for nature, parks, paths and commercial land.

"I think it's going to be a very exciting project for Swift Current," said Anne Huizinga, Commercial Planner with Focus Corp. "I think that this is the kind of place where people will want to spend time. I know that in Swift Current there's a lot of people that really enjoy walking and enjoy being outside and living life to the fullest and I think that this will be an opportunity to really help with that.

"What initially got us focused on more of a pedestrian area in talks with the city we originally weren't sure what we were gonna look at with the property and as we've delved deeper into what the needs were connectivity became a key point because there's a lot of places that are hard to get to and we wanted to make sure that it was going to be a fully integrated site," said Huizinga. "One of the streets we've designed can be easily cordoned off and used for either street festivals or farmers markets. We've really tried to keep it an integrated system where cars are permitted by pedestrians are really the focus of the consideration."

More...

[North_Regina_Boy]

Swift is such a nice city. Similar to Moose Jaw in a lot of ways. Great pictures above!

[kalin_10]

January 29, 2014
Matthew Liebenberg
Prairie Post

Councillors approved a $159,841 contract to Riverside Electric of Swift Current for the installation of traffic signals and electrical components at the 2nd Avenue N.E. and Chaplin Street intersection.
Council approved a total budget amount of $450,000 in 2013 for this intersection upgrade. Mitch Minken, the City’s general manager of infrastructure and operations, said this contract will be the first of different agreements for the work to be carried out at the intersection.
“We’re doing a full rebuild of that including all the deep utilities — water, wastewater and storm systems, the signalized structures as well and the street and sidewalk,” he explained. “We’ll be redesigning it to allow for better flow for the fire trucks headed toward the south side. So it will be a major improvement to that intersection.”
Genivar Consulting conducted a study of the seven signalized intersections in the downtown area in 2011. It included an assessment of the geometric layout and signal timing and synchronization for each intersection.
The study recommended the installation of new traffic and pedestrian hardware, new software and strategic pole placement to improve pedestrian safety and the turning movements of vehicle traffic.
The first intersection upgrade took place at Central Avenue North and Chaplin Street. That work started in 2011 but was only completed in early 2012, partly as a result of a delay in receiving hardware for traffic signals.
According to Minken, the City will be following a different approach with the upgrading of the 2nd Avenue N.E. and Chaplin Street intersection.
“We haven’t got all the logistics figured out, but our intent this time is to close the intersection and adjoining streets for a period of time and do the whole project in one shot,” he said. “So sometime this spring or summer that intersection will likely be closed two to three weeks, completely closed, to allow us to completely finish it safely and get it done quickly.”

More...

[kalin_10]

The Southwest Booster
February 6, 2014

Swift Current City Council is proposing a new Capital Reserve Levy, with a series of six per cent increases proposed over a five year period in order to help the city generate funds for future capital expenditures.

Council passed a Notice of Motion at a special City Council meeting on Wednesday night proposing a Capital Reserve Bylaw be approved as a new funding model in an attempt to eliminate the current tax breaks afforded by utilizing subsidies from the Light and Power surplus.

The proposal calls for an initial six per cent base increase, followed each year by six per cent increases which will generate $2.5 million more in tax revenue at the end of five years.

"It's difficult. We're certainly mindful of not only what our residents see, but what hits their pocketbook. But the reality of it is we've got to play catch up for a long time. Tax minimization as a strategy has put us behind the eight ball," Mayor Jerrod Schafer said following the Feb. 5 special council meeting.

By generating additional tax revenue this new financial strategy will allow the city to reduce their reliance on debt to pay for capital expenditures. It will also allow the Light and Power surplus to be directed to other priorities instead of simply as a revenue stream to fund general operations and subsidize property taxes.
"This isn't an increase that you can just jam down in a year or that would be pretty significant. So we're phasing it in over a period of time. But the reality of it is is what we're trying to do is get our tax strategy away from being so highly subsidized," Schafer said.

"We need to get to a situation where our Light and Power dividend pays for capital in this community, and the taxes that we pay simply pay for the services that we expect on a daily basis," he added.

City Council first proposed a change to their financial strategy back in December, with the community weighing in on the proposal to council members.

"I think everybody understands out situation. The discussion has been good to sort of enlighten everybody into the financial situation in Swift Current and how our community operates, and probably what we need to do obviously moving forward to be in a good situation," Schafer said.

"We have no doubt that there's some people that are going to be dead against something like this, because some individuals don't want to pay for anything that they don't use. They don't want to contribute to an iPlex or to an aquatic facility because they don't use them. But that's not the business that we're in. We have to look after an entire community."

Schafer again highlighted that the majority of the current city debt has helped provide some important community improvements.

Read more...

[kalin_10]

Colin Powers
February 19, 2014



Swift Current is another step toward potentially being the home of a future SaskPower generating facility.

Council approved an 18-month option for the Crown Utility to purchase city-owned land near the west landfill, that could host a combined-cycle gas turbine facility that would be built to meet an expected growing demand for electricity in the province.

Swift Current is one of two shortlisted sites for the facility, with the other located at Lanigan, and construction could begin within two years if SaskPower decides to go ahead.

"At the end of the day, it's going to be a business decision for SaskPower to make, but we want to do everything in our power to make the best case for that plant to come here," said Swift Current Mayor Jerrod Schafer. "I think it's exciting for our residents that land has been acquired, and we'll see where we continue to go over the next couple of years.

"In terms of the overall economic benefits, I think then numbers are obvious and pretty staggering," he added. "I've heard anywhere between three-quarters of a billion to $800 million dollars in total construction costs, and up to 300 temporary workers for a two to three year period to construct a facility like that, and afterwards, a significant number of high-quality, high-paying jobs from SaskPower to operate the facility. As I've often said, one of the tough things that we face in our little corner of the province is that we haven't had the oil and gas development in the Bakken that they have in the southeast, Yorkton has been fortunate with a canola crushing plant, and the Battlefords have one of these facilities... We haven't had potash or uranium or things like that, so this is a big deal for our community and our region."

Read more...


Further information on this story, check out the Prairie Post here...

*SaskPower

[kalin_10]

The Southwest Booster
March 4, 2014

Swift Current City Council gave unanimous approval to a three-year Strategic Plan as the start of a longer term strategy which is aiming to grow Swift Current's population to 25,000 by 2025.

The document builds on some of the themes introduced in the former three-year Strategic Plan which expired at the end of 2013, with the new plan envisioning growth by establishing the policies and priorities to grow the community.

"We decided that as a Council we want to set a high bar. Not only for the remainder of this term but for Council's in the future, that we're a community that's very serious about growing our population. Because obviously with that comes greater opportunities in employment and amenities and quality of life," Mayor Jerrod Schafer said following the approval of the new Strategic Plan. "We want the world to know that we're open for business, that we want to attract business, and that we offer a high quality of life for all demographics."

Read more...

[kalin_10]

The Southwest Booster
March 18, 2014

The average Swift Current homeowner will pay an additional $6.67 per month in property taxes after Swift Current City Council unanimously approved their 2014 Budget.

Council approved an overall 9.2 per cent increase in property taxes in order to generate an additional $2.4 million in taxation from what was approved last year. Swift Current's overall budget of $67,179,596 is an increase from the $64.7 million budget in 2013.

A breakdown of the numbers shows the City approved a 6.9 per cent increase, or an additional $5 per month on average, in order to maintain and improve civic services. An additional 2.3 per cent increase was approved for capital projects, with the average household paying an extra $1.67 per month towards capital projects.

The budget is an additional step in the city's newly approved Strategic Plan, which includes a target of reaching 25,000 residents by the year 2025.

"Obviously growth is our message going forward," Schafer said following Monday's City Council meeting.

"We want to send a really clear message that we're going to shift the way we think around here. We want to grow the population. We want the benefits that come with growth - the increased amenities, the lower cost for providing services in our community for more people using them, the benefits to organizations like the Broncos and Indians, and users of culture and arts."

In the area of Capital Projects, a series of targeted projects were approved in order to enhance the lifestyles of current residents and help attract new residents and businesses. The largest expenditure is $2.1 million to upgrade and rehabilitate roads, intersections and sidewalks. A portion of that funding will including dollars for an engineering report regarding the 2nd Avenue Overpass Bridge which will allow the city to evaluate future upgrades and rehabilitation to the structure. However this year's road and sidewalk spending is down sharply from the $3.7 million investment approved in the 2013 budget.

Read more...

[kalin_10]

SwiftCurrentOnline.com
Colin Powers
April 1, 2014


The inventory of residential lots in Swift Current currently stands at zero, and the city is looking to have more on stream by this summer, but the pressure is on.

"We got caught out through the last year or so trying to catch up with anticipated demand," said Mitch Minken, the city's General Manager of Infrastructure and Operations. "Highland sold out on us much quicker than we thought, and it's been a challenge to get Valley Ridge up and running. They have been going through various stages of construction out there, so right now we're really under the gun to get some lots out there so people can get some homes built."

Minken adds they are looking to get the deep utilities installed and streets and sidewalks completed in phase two of Valley Ridge, and have lots ready to sell there by this summer.

Read more...

[kalin_10]

SwiftCurrentOnline.com
Colin Powers
April 4, 2014


A local ag manufacturer is growing in Swift Current's Munro Industrial Park.

Ag Growth International has agreed to lease and purchase 4.9 acres of city-owned land south of their BATCO Manufacturing Facility on Memorial Drive for expansion.

"With their growing operations, and their recent purchase of the Rem GrainVac line, they're simply running out of space already," said Marty Salberg, Director of Business Development for the City of Swift Current. "Given the fact that they employ 100 people, and have invested in excess of $20 million into our community already this year, it was nice to show a little bit of support."

BATCO moved into their facility, formerly the home of Urban Forest Recyclers, just last year.

Meanwhile, the industrial park continues to see interest. Federated Co-operatives Ltd. is planning to build a new bulk propane storage facility on land just north of the BATCO plant, purchasing a two-acre parcel from the City in February.

Read More...

[kalin_10]

Colin Powers
April 29, 2014
SwiftCurrentOnline.com

The City of Swift Current is working on a new framework for further expansion in the northeast corner.

Notice of motion was given at Monday's city council meeting to adopt the Northeast Urban Expansion Area Sector Plan, which was first initiated in 2012 and will call for more pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods in that area.

"We're going to be trying to create urban neighbourhoods that are pedestrian-oriented, with linkage to the Chinook Parkway master plan, so there will be pedestrian linkages from the neighbourhoods to the parkway," said Hank Epstein, General Manager of Planning and Growth Development for the City of Swift Current. "We are also trying to create areas that are more or less villages, where people can walk around and have stores nearby within walking distance, as well as being close to schools and the integrated campus, so the effort is trying to be more focused on pedestrians rather than on automobiles through these neighbourhoods."

Read more...

[Bankview]

IMG_1997 by dyllankaufmann, on Flickr

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