Province releases plans for long-awaited Fort McMurray seniors facility

The Alberta government has released concepts for a long-awaited, 100-bed continuing care facility planned for the heart of downtown Fort McMurray.

On Tuesday, Alberta Infrastructure will present the drawings to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo's land planning and transportation committee, and discuss other support structures to be built nearby.

The departmentsaid it hopes to dogeotechnicallocation studies in the spring and tender the project in the fall.

Once the province selects a contractor, it will have a better idea on the cost of the facility.

"It's part of our desire to work with the municipality on a Willow Square master site," said Alberta Infrastructure spokesperson Robert Storrier. "So the municipality would know the continuing care site would take this amount of space and that would allow them to start their planning process."

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In September 2016, Alberta Health reiterated in an email its promise to build a facility for seniors who can no longer care for themselves. The department said it had allocated $42 million and was ready to meet with the municipality.

In addition to the continuing care facility, the municipality hopes to build an aging-in-place centre thatwould provide accommodation for independent seniors before they transition into continuing care.

Hot-button issue

Senior living has been a hot-button issue in Fort McMurray for years.

Under the former Progressive Conservative government, a proposed seniors living complex was relocated from its downtown location at Willow Square to a subdivision called Parsons Creek. The proposed move angered many of the city's seniors, who said the new location was too far from the hospital, groceries and other services.

The NDP government promised in November 2015 to get the complex built at its original location. But no work has begun atthe site.

InSeptember 2016, WildroseOpposition Leader Brian Jean tried to slam the province for the delay, but a gaff he made about beating Premier Rachel Notleydrowned out his attempt to resurrect the issue.

The Fort McMurray Golden Years Society said the municipality has been fighting for adequate seniors living for more than 25 years. Other than three independent living facilities, seniors in Fort McMurray and surrounding communities must leave the region when they become too old or ill to live on their own.

Golden Years Society member Myrtle Dussault said the long history of broken promises has worn her out.

"There are lots of seniors in the hospital who really need it desperately now," Dussault said. "They have promised, and then they have taken the promises away. And every time we get so far, we are just met with a roadblock."

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