A man who spent his youth working at the Turner Valley Gas Plant hopes to create a park so people can appreciate the provincial historic site from above.
Okotoks resident Ron McLaren is proposing a small park west of the Turner Valley Golf Club’s 14th fairway overlooking the gas plant with benches, picnic tables and a monument commemorating former gas plant superintendent Jack Bowman.
The proposal received support from the Turner Valley Historical Society, the Parks, Pathways and Recreation Advisory Committee and, most recently, Turner Valley town council in principle at its May 2 meeting.
“We are not 100 per cent clear on how we will move forward, but it’s clear now that we have the buy-in from both the historical society and the Town of Turner Valley,” said McLaren. “It’s basically just moving along to the next planning steps towards a potential project.”
McLaren will form a committee with representatives from the advisory committee, historical society and residents in the area to formalize a plan, establish roles, discuss funding and take the next step to seeing the project a reality.
McLaren said he was hired by Bowman to work as an operator in the propane plant during summer vacation periods while he was in high school and university.
Bowman was the superintendent in the 1970s and ’80s, he said.
“The Turner Valley Gas Plant is an important historic landmark in the development of the oil and gas industry in both Alberta and Canada,” he said. “By choosing Jack we are recognizing the oil industry and superintendents that were instrumental to the community.”
Establishing Jack Bowman Park as a recreational viewpoint would be “a tremendous opportunity for the town,” said McLaren.
“It would be built and organized in such a way that it would be used by the community and some visitors, but not an area that we would expect to have hundreds of people coming on a daily basis and tremendously increasing the traffic in that area,” he said. “This vision can be small to start with, can stay small or get bigger as time goes by.”
McLaren said he expects the development of the park, if approved, to take five to 10 years, and that it would be incorporated into a pathway system that council approved last month that would run through that section of the golf course. A timeline has not yet been established to develop the pathway.
“We just need to determine how much of this we want to proceed with before the development of the walking path in the area or whether we want to delay a little bit,” he said. “It will enhance the pathway system. It’s a rest and reflection area for those who will use the pathway system.”
Rod Mumby, with the Turner Valley Historical Society, joined McLaren at last week’s presentation and told council the park would be an enhancement to the community.
“For the historical society our main drive right now is working with the government to get the gas plant opened every year so we can have tours here,” he said. “This would really enhance that experience.”
Coun. Barry Crane told McLaren the Jack Bowman Park has his full support.
“I think this is a fantastic initiative,” he said. “It’s only going to enhance the area. It’s a perfect little spot and it will be a great destination.”
Coun. Dona Fluter said while she supports the initiative, more work needs to be done regarding the Turner Valley Gas Plant itself.
“Two levels of government made a commitment and, while the work done to date is appreciated it has been 30 plus years since the commitment was made to develop the historical site in Turner Valley,” she said. “The funding to complete this project needs to be more dependable. Our municipality pays a dear price when there is controversy around this project as it is seen as the municipality’s venture rather than the provincial government.
“I want to see people coming to the table that should be turning that corner with us going forward. It is an opportunity to speak to the history of Alberta.”
John Waring, a councillor and member of the parks, pathways and recreation advisory committee, said he was impressed with the Jack Bowman Park idea when McLaren presented it at a past advisory committee meeting.
“It fits with what we’re doing,” he said. “An area where people can view the oil and gas facility are all in our concept. I think we can put a lot of effort in this together.”
