Who among us regrets the investment the city made in building the Collicutt recreational complex, anyone? Some wishes that we had a 50 metre pool, but few deny the success of the investment.

That the Collicutt Ctr. was a huge catalyst in the growth in the south-east corner of Red Deer is undeniable.

Nearly 30 years ago the city leaders felt that with the city population heading towards 60,000 residents, a fourth pool was needed. One per 15,000 population. It would attract growth to the south east corner too.

Today with the population at 100,000 and hopefully 120,000 in ten years would it not be proper to build a fifth pool? One per 24,000 population. We would need 4 new pools to match the original goal of one per 15,000 population.

The city says no, we need more ice rinks. We rebuilt one downtown, recently as well as, we built one at the college. We will finish paying for the college rink in about 7 or 8 years. We also want to build another rink at the Dawe centre next year, so we cannot build a pool for another 10 years or so.

Interesting enough the city has 3,000 or so acres they want to develop north of 11a, to house about 25,000 residents at 17 homes per hectare and 2.5 residents per home on average density. So follow a successful precedent called Collicutt Ctr.

Build a Collicutt centre with a 50m pool and an ice rink as catalyst for growth in the northwest.

The icing on the cake in the north-west is Hazlett Lake with 2 miles of coastline. Cities like Lethbridge which has consistent growth and is now more populated than Red Deer built man made lakes for tourist attracting, while we have a natural lake.

We have the precedent, we have the need, we have the land, we have the opportunity and we have the residents requesting it.

Now only if we were in a buyer’s market with low land prices, and low interest rates? We are.

If we could get the tenders to come in lower? What’s that? Red Deer County says their tenders are coming in at up to 50% less than boom tenders.

We have all the ducks in a row, we have opportunity, we the means, we have the desire but do we have the vision and the courage.

I am beginning to think that the city leaders can’t see the forest for the trees. It feels like they took a snapshot years ago and rather than look at present opportunities they look at that snapshot. They use old data, old numbers and old formulas and say the same old statements, and we stagnate and wait for the next generation to present updated plans.

Perhaps now is the time for the next generation, what say you?