BONNYVILLE – Last week, residents of Bonnyville took to social media to make their dismay known at the dismantling and removal of the iconic gazebo that stood on the corner of 50 Ave. and 49 St. next to the Provincial Court and Alberta Health Services building.
Work to remove the gazebo began Thursday and was nearly completed by the end of the day Friday.
The Gazebo was placed on a plot of land that the Town leased from the provincial government along main street as early as the 1990s, says Bill Rogers, the Town of Bonnyville’s CAO, offering his best guess as to when the gazebo was first installed.
“That lease has expired and the Province has not chosen to renew the lease,” he told Lakeland This Week.
The Town is now responsible for the removal of the Gazebo from the leased property, as per the terms of the agreement.
Speaking to why the structure was dismantled rather than relocated, Rogers explained, “Moving the gazebo from its current location to basically anywhere, presented challenges in that we would have had to hire ATCO to lift power lines along the route to whatever the final destination would have been.”
The cost of moving and storing the wooden structure in the Public Works yard would have cost an estimated $20,000 to $30,000.
“We could probably build a suitable structure for less,” said Rogers, noting that demolishing the Gazebo cost less than $5,000.
As to whether a new gazebo will be erected in the near future, the CAO stated, “We will be doing a review of our parks in 2023 and planning where future improvements will be going... I certainly would not rule out future gazebos as an idea.”
Lakeland This Week was not able to reach Alberta Infrastructure regarding its decision to not renew the lease with the Town of Bonnyville prior to press deadline.
