To commemorate Canada’s 150 birthday, city council approved a mural project that will capture a piece of history for the city.
If chosen Lloydminster will be one of 150 communities across Canada creating a mural to be placed in the city for future generations to enjoy. Mayor Gerald Aalbers says that he and council felt it was important to leave a memory behind.
“History is a key factor just as we’ve been talking about First Nations and the reconciliation. This is part of our history and if we don’t capture it we’ll miss it.”
Aalbers adds that arts and culture is a part of the community and the people who identify with that will be behind the decision made by council.
This project will rely on corporate sponsorship and community support as it is an unbudgeted expense. That factor is one that played a role in City Councilor Aaron Buckingham’s decision to oppose the mural.
“We just came through a really tough budget cycle, we really did and this is an unbudgeted item for 2018. I had to look at this for myself as a tax payer and any taxpayer standpoint and go is this money well spent. Should we be doing this and I couldn’t get my head around doing that in this budget year.”
Upon approval of the project, city council allowed an option to change the mural size when the right spot is found. The two cost and size options are 8 by 8 for $12,500 or 8 by 12 for $15,000. The mural has several options in terms of location including the Bio-Clean Aquatic Centre, Servus Sports Centre and Bud Miller Park Centre.