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By Jordan Parker

Evergreen Park asks city for funding

Nov 7, 2017 | 3:33 PM

Evergreen Park is hoping for $200,000 in funding from the City of Grande Prairie this year.

The events area asked council Monday night for the money each year for the next five, in order to cover budget and operational costs.

Evergreen Park presented information from an economic impact study, which showed the area is impacted to the tune of $43 million by events at the park.

Councillor Chris Thiessen, upon hearing mention of Evergreen Park’s hope to strike up a relationship with transit, moved to send the $200,000 ask to be discussed during budget deliberations.

The conversation around buses heading out to the area will be discussed in the future by another committee.

“The $200,000 was an obvious budget ask … I thought since a budget is coming up in two weeks, let’s just get that there,” he said.

“The transit … We could get a more robust report coming back from administration.”

The embattled Grande Prairie Regional Agriculture and Exhibition Society asked for the same funding last year. However, they told council they have cut their $8 long-term debt to half that in just five years.

They said a bus route or a shuttle service they’re considering starting themselves could bring people in.

“It’d be really nice to have transit running out to Evergreen Park. I’d like to explore that idea, considering they are a contributor to the economic well-being of our entire region,” said Thiessen.

“I hope that administration comes back and says ‘yeah, this is something we can do,’ but we’ll have to see how that comes out in print and the report.”

by Jordan Parker