New neighbourhood plan for Glen Peterson Park opens options for development

By David Willberg

Great perspectives. Former southeast resident chosen as one of the CFL’s Women in Football, to join Edmonton Elks.

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The City of Estevan hasn’t given up hope on selling the remaining vacant lots inside the Glen Peterson Park.

Estevan city council discussed a 35-page neighbourhood plan for the area in northeast Estevan during Monday night’s meeting. An open house will be held and a survey will be posted online before council gives final approval to the document.

It’s time to have fun. Details on the Estevan Strippers’ Spring Bust tournament happening this week.

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Richard Neufeld, the city’s manager of land development services, said the plan was first drafted a few years ago but was never adopted. It reached the point in which it was approved for public discourse, but the city was also focused on other priorities such as the official community plan and the zoning bylaw, which was adopted by the provincial government in February.

“I want to get this project finalized,” Neufeld said regarding the plan.

The city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic also delayed implementing the plan.

There are six parcels in the park that haven’t been developed, but one of them has been spoken for, Neufeld said. There aren’t any financial incentives, as those are in another document, but one thing that Neufeld believes will help is that some developments are no longer allowed.

“For example, with the old zoning bylaw, you could put a tire recycling firm, you could put a tank farm for industrial use [in there], stuff that wouldn’t be visually appealing or could have odors associated with them, and we screened them out to make it more of a business park rather than an industrial park,” Neufeld said.

He is confident these changes will help with filling the vacancies, but he admits the economy will decide if they are filled.

The Glen Peterson Park was first unveiled well over a decade ago. A proposed solution to the empty lots was to allow for a new approach that would include, among other things, residential development within the area, pathways, college dormitories and more. A committee of landowners within the neighbourhood contributed to the overall theme and goals of the plan, Neufeld said. But the consultations happened a few years ago and some of the landowners in the area have changed.

The subdivision also has a commercial development east of the intersection of Kensington Avenue and Nesbitt Drive that has been in place for more than a decade. Neufeld noted that further east of the stores is the foundation of what would have been a hotel, and then there is land that would have been used for a dormitory for the Southeast College’s students back when Estevan was experiencing a shortage in rental properties.

A seniors’ complex with access to Walmart has also been discussed.

“It also then allows for connectivity if you do that, where if you had a dormitory or something like that there, you could have sidewalks connecting it to the college and then you can have pathways or sidewalks connecting it to the area around Walmart,” said Neufeld.

The King Street extension, which has been developed through a partnership with the Southeast College, is also a big step forward, Neufeld said.

“In 2019, that was something that was looked upon as being really long term, and now we have the situation where the roadbed is pretty well done thanks to the efforts of the college and their program.”

Any land along the new road should be appealing, he said, and it also gives another access point for Glen Peterson Park.

“One of the issues that we had, and this was around 2019, was you had that intersection at Nesbitt and Kensington, and the whole area in there is basically a cul-de-sac or a dead end, because there’s no alternative access to get out of there. And that was not looked at as an attractive feature by some businesses that had inquired about moving in there.”

During Monday night’s meeting, Coun. Lindsay Clark suggested a different name for the King Street extension, and said he hoped it would be paved, because some other roads in town never received asphalt.

Neufeld agreed that it will need to have a different name.

“The road bed is there, so my assumption is that the day will come that it will be an operational road. I’m not sure what day or what year, but it will happen.”

With no businesses on the King Street connector at this time, Mayor Roy Ludwig said this would be an opportune time to make a name change.

A date for the open house hasn’t been set.

By Ana Bykhovskaia

The big and loud Energy City Ex is returning to Estevan from Thursday, June 8 to Sunday, June 11, thanks to the Estevan Exhibition Association (EEA).

The four-day fair and rodeo will bring a lot of beloved entertainment back and will also offer many new fun opportunities. Not only will Estevan have a chance to enjoy the rides during the week and on the weekend, but the KCRA Rodeo program has also grown and will occupy three days from June 9-11.

The KCRA Rodeo is expected to see about 250 participants both local and from outside the city.

“Adding that third day is going to be really, really big,” said Estevan Exhibition Association president Crystal Ross.

She explained that riders who want to go onto finals have to qualify with so many rodeos. But they also have to do 51 per cent of each rodeo. With most rodeos being a two-day weekend, it sometimes becomes tough for participants to qualify, and the three-day event helps competitors with their summer schedule and turns the Energy City Ex into an even greater attraction.

The big weekend will open up with the traditional SMILE Services Parade ending at the fairgrounds on the Thursday. West Coast Amusements will welcome the first riders of the midway starting at 4 p.m. on June 8. A kids’ rodeo, featuring young local talents, will take place on the first day as well.

Ross said there will be another event on that Thursday, but she preferred to “keep this cat in the bag” for now.

New for this year will be a big quilt show, with masters from many different areas displaying their work throughout all four days. There also will be many food options.

“Our wonderful food vendors are going to be back and some extras are showing up this year,” Ross said.

On Friday gates for the midway will open at 4 p.m., and the main rodeo performance will start at 7 p.m. at the Graham Collie Arena on the EEA grounds.

Saturday is traditionally be one of the busiest days. The gates will open at noon for the rides, and the rodeo action will start at 7 p.m. The Johner Brothers and Sons will be the main act at a cabaret that night. Saturday will also see a free stage for local talents and entertainers.

“I’m excited about that one,” Ross said.

Entries are not open yet, but Ross said people can start thinking about what they could do, as the stage will be open to any kind of talent, be it juggling, playing drums or guitar, singing, dancing or anything else.

Also on Saturday, new for the contemporary Energy City Ex. will be the King of the Prairies Steer and Heifer Jackpot Show, hosted by the Benson 4-H Club as their main fundraiser.

“We’re going to have some cattle showing, which is a part of the old-time fair that it’s been missing for the last few years,” Ross noted, adding that they are already accepting entries for the show. “And it’s open for anybody [to participate].”

Sunday morning there will be a cowboy church service at the grounds. The gates for the rides will open at noon again, and the matinee rodeo performance is at 2 p.m.

Beer gardens and many other entertainment options for guests of all ages will be available at the grounds Thursday through Sunday.

The EEA is also calling for rodeo princesses to put their names up to compete for the title of Rodeo Queen. Registration is now open and will close at the end of April. Organizers encourage anyone in southeast Saskatchewan who is ready for a season of person- al and horsemanship growth, who would like support in their local horse community, want a scholarship award for college, is 15-19 years old, and wants to make some awesome memories this summer to enter the contest.

“It’s open to anybody in southeast Saskatchewan as long as they can compete and have a horse. And they can borrow a horse, they can rent a horse and they can ride their own horse. It’s wide open,” said Rhonda Gillespie with EEA.

The contestants will compete in four disciplines: ticket sales, speeches, horsemanship, and appearance and personality. They’ll be working on some of the components ahead of time, while others will be judged during the rodeo.

“Ticket sales will start May 1. This year we’re going to change it up a little bit, and we’re going to do the horse- manship component prior to the start of the fair, so they don’t have to be under pressure when attending the rodeo parade and the kids’ rodeo. Their horsemanship pattern will be done ahead of time [on June 5]. Then they’ll be required to ride in the parade, and they will be in attendance with the kids’ rodeo, which would be Thursday night,” said Gillespie.

“The crowning will take place before the start of the rodeo performance on Saturday. And then they will be leading the grand entry for Saturday’s performance and Sunday’s performance. They’ll also have to ride in the grand entry for Friday night, but they won’t be crowned until Saturday.”

She said last year’s return of the queen contest was a success. The girls helped promote the association and also pushed themselves out of their comfort zone and grew personally and professionally.

Anyone willing to partake or find out more about the Rodeo Queen contest can reach out to Gillespie at 306421-9701 or Stacey Holtz at 306-421-2262.

Gillespie also encouraged the businesses and people to decorate the community ahead of the weekend and make it feel festive for themselves and many guests that will be in town for those four days. People and businesses are encouraged to put up some signage and decorate windows or the front of stores or homes. Straw bales, cowboy attire and any other kind of rodeo symbols, as well as any other ways to make the city look a bit more festive and welcoming can be used.

“Our contestants come from every corner. There are some that come from Manitoba. Some come from Alberta, and pretty much every corner of Saskatchewan. They come and they support our businesses and stuff, so it’d be nice to show some excitement in the community by welcoming these people in,” Gillespie added.

While Ross said the EEA has an “awesome board”, to make the fully loaded four days of action an absolute success, they would need more volunteers to join them and help with many different tasks from running gates, to helping at beer gardens and many more efforts.

Anyone interested in volunteering can send an email to eea@sasktel.net.