Sexsmith to say farewell to last payphone

Dec 18, 2019 | 4:40 PM

The Town of Sexsmith will soon be saying goodbye to a local landmark.

The pay phone that stands at 9901 100 Street will be removed this coming new year.

Sexsmith Mayor Kate Potter says its been a long time coming.

“It actually has not been a working phone for quite a long time. There is an issue with the phone itself, or the receiver. And so, we’ve had the phone booth there forever and we just decided oh you know, it’s probably time to get it dealt with because it just is becoming more and more rundown.”

Potter adds that TELUS is already in the process of removing pay phones that are no longer in service.

She says it will be taken to be displayed at the Sexsmith Museum.

“Our museum society is going to – once the phone booth and everything is decommissioned and the phone itself – they’ve made applications to take it so that they can include it in the museum. They have a display of phones sort of through our history, and so this has been a long-standing part of our history too.”

The phone and booth will be officially removed on February 10, 2020.

The nearest payphones can be found at the New Horizon CO-OP in downtown Grande Prairie, and at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital.

by Emily Keller