History
Spruce Grove's City Centre,
a Rich History
The City Centre is the oldest part of Spruce Grove and has experienced, like many other downtowns, a resurgence of great ideas to redevelop the area. There is a rich history of businesses and residents working together to develop and plan a successful City Centre. Some some strategies date back to 1982. Here is a timeline of the Spruce Grove City Centre development initiatives.
1982 - "Central Area Redevelopment Plan (CARP)." This plan was to provide the role and an identity for Spruce Grove's City Centre.
1991 - "Update to the 1982 Central Area Redevelopment Plan." The update to the 1982 CARP was prepared by the Edmonton Regional Planning Commission with the goal of strengthening the role and identity of Spruce Grove's City Centre. The updated plan was reviewed by a steering committee comprised of Spruce Grove City Aldermen, Department Directors from Economic Development and Planning & Engineering, the Chamber of Commerce and the residents of Spruce Grove. The Steering Committee decided the historic City Centre should be retained and promoted and that a vision was integral to the future of the Central Area Redevelopment Plan.
1997 - "Downtown Development Action Study (DDAS)." The City of Spruce Grove hired design and planning consultants to create a unified vision of the downtown. Stakeholders were engaged and a strategy was developed aimed at cosmetic and physical improvements, local business support and marketing and creating a pedestrian oriented environment. The function of the DDAS was to increase the appeal of the City Centre by enhancing its physical appeal. The issue came when parties involved could not agree on the amount of investment required and with some choosing not to contribute to enhancements. The project was then limited in completion.
2010 - "City of Spruce Grove's Municipal Development Plan (MDP)." The most recent update to the City's Municipal Development Plan was revised in 2010 under the "Your Bright Future" plan. This plan offers a geographical definition of the City Centre and addressed the revitalization in several sections. Future Land Use, Form and Infrastructure and Economic Development to develop the City Centre as a mixed use hub of activity with a distinct identity.
2014 - April - "Stakeholder Engagement Meeting." This meeting was attended by a number of land and business owners and the City of Spruce Grove. All came to voice their concerns, opinions and assessments of the economic and physical climate in the downtown Spruce Grove. They discussed perceived strengths, key issues and concerns, ideas to move forward with and an agreement to increase communication and buy-in from all parties. From this meeting, a study was to be developed to document the current status and situation analysis of Spruce Grove's City Centre as it relates to its viability for revitalization strategies and initiatives. The City of Spruce Grove commissioned Cushing Terrell to conduct a City Centre Revitalization Discussion Paper outlining the potential next steps for the City in how it could move forward in revitalizing the City Centre area. The paper is a document designed to stimulate discussion and identify considerations for the City to potentially pursue. The study was carried out over the period of April to June of 2014 where information was collected from many sources using several methods to prepare a list of City Centre revitalization considerations. The completed paper was put before City council in July of 2014. Council took the recommendations and incorporated that information into that year's City of Spruce Grove's Corporate Plan and all Corporate Plans to follow.
The top two considerations from the City Centre Revitalization Discussion Paper put forward by City Council in the Corporate Plan in 2014 were:
Establish a Business Improvement Association
Establish a Business Revitalization Zone
Thus beginning a strong reinvigorated movement to revitalize Spruce Grove's City Centre! To read the entire discussion paper, click here.
