Neat to Know: April 30, 2024
Please enjoy this week's edition of Neat to Know, a roundup of City news, updates, and other important information. You can expect to see the week's most interesting content and even some that may have not been delivered through our regular channels.
Outdoor pools are opening soon
As crews prepare to shut down the Kinsmen Aquatic Park at the Big Marble Go Centre on May 15 until September 15 for a $2.8 million upgrade, plans are taking shape at other pools and amenities to accommodate swimmers.
Outdoor pools will open as follows:
- Hill Pool (44 7 Street SW) – May 15
- Echo Dale Swim Lake (just off Holsom Road SW) – May 24
- Strathcona Pool (1150 5 Street SE) – June 1
Patrons can splash around when spray parks open for the year:
- Ross Glen Spray Park (Ross Glen Road SE) – May 17
- Saamis Rotary Park (Brentwood Lane SW) – May 17
- Kiwanis Central Park (900 3 Avenue SE) – June 1
- Strathcona Island Park (5 Street SE) – June 1
Learn more about the closure Spring swim schedules
Municipal Mingle: a public engagement event
The City of Medicine Hat invites you to ‘Municipal Mingle’, a public engagement event, at Towne Square on Wednesday, May 15, from 4 to 7 p.m. Take the opportunity to connect, engage, and share your feedback on a range of local initiatives. And did we mention there will be food trucks on site!? Come out to engage, eat, and enjoy the outdoors!
A call you don't want to miss: community survey
This is a call you don't want to miss! From May 6 to 26, IPSOS will conduct a community survey targeting Medicine Hat residents aged 18 and over to understand community sentiment on a variety of City topics and services. The study is statistically representative, using a randomized telephone survey (65% cellphones and 35% landlines) with an overall sample size of 400. We last collected this data in 2022 (view the results here) and plan to repeat the survey every two years. So, if you get the call, please take the time to provide your feedback.
Don't be that neighbour
We've all seen it: that obvious semi-circle path of dust where a street sweeper had to maneuver around a now-invisible vehicle, leaving a glaring pile of debris on an otherwise spotless street. Yeah. It was that guy; that neighbour who didn't move his vehicle when the 'No Parking' signs were out. And now your road is still dusty. Don't be that neighbour.
All kidding aside, this is to simply say: remember to move your vehicle off the road when you see the no parking signs. This helps us to fully clean the roads in your area effectively.
Current status: Street sweepers are nearly finished zone 1, but had to take a break with the rainy weather today. The next zone (zone 2) is the South Flats neighbourhood.
Find your zone at medicinehat.ca/StreetSweep.
Have you entered to win the Different Kind of Energy prize pack?
Share your stories of Medicine Hat's #DifferentKindOfEnergy for the chance to win a $1,500 local prize package procured by Tourism Medicine Hat! The prize draw includes the following:
- A hot air balloon ride for two provided by the Rise Up Festival organizers in the summer of 2025
- Golf Package from the Medicine Hat Accommodation Association
- JazzFest tickets
- A tour on the Sunshine Trolley
- Indy coffee shops and bakeries tour with gift cards to spend at those establishments
- $200 in tixx.ca credit to attend an entertainment experience at the Esplanade or Co-op Place
- Outdoor Xcape paddle rentals
- Medalta museum passes and gift shop credit
- One night stay in a comfort cabin at the Gas City Campground
- Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede passes, wrist bands, and cash for food
- Passes to John’s Butterfly House
- $100 gift card to South Country Co-op (food or fuel)
- Punch card to the Big Marble Go Centre
- Pride of place swag package (sweater, t-shirt, hat, stickers, magnets and locally made chocolate)
Draw date: Wednesday, June 5.
Share your story for a chance to win
Public Matters Podcast Episode 6: Medicine Hat Public Library
For the final episode of our podcast pilot project, host Jay Hitchen, Mayor Linnsie Clark, and Councillor Ramona Robins speak with Medicine Hat Public Library’s Chief Librarian, Ken Feser about the very important role that public libraries play in our communities. More than just books, libraries act as a community living room with librarians working alongside social workers to provide essential services and connection to all. Tune in when the episode launches next week on Tuesday, May 7 to hear stories of the impact our library is making.
Restoration along McCutcheon Drive NW
Last summer, we installed a main gas line along McCutcheon Drive NW and are excited to welcome contractors back to restore the area disturbed by the work to proper condition. Weather will play a role in the success of the reclamation. Drought conditions can negatively impact the establishment and growth of grasses and forbs in areas such as this. Even with favorable weather, it could take two or more years to regrow naturally. We ask for your patience as it grows and cooperation to stay off seeded areas.
3 Street SE Downtown
Next up for the major water and sewer rehabilitation downtown is the closure of 6 Avenue SE from 2 Street SE to 3 Street SE, as well as the intersection of 3 Street SE and 5 Avenue SE, on May 6.
Did you know that the contractor working on this project has crews park offsite and shuttle to the work zone so that they don't take up valuable parking spaces for downtown visitors? We're grateful for their thoughtful consideration.
When in drought... follow local water restrictions
We might get some rain this week, but the risk of severe drought this summer still has us on our toes. Reducing water demand is the first step to helping Medicine Hat and our neighbouring communities get through the most severe drought period. Using less water now may save us from having to move to more stringent mandatory measures later.
Get to know our financial story
City finances are a main topic of conversation these days, and we get it. When affordability is challenged, public dollars are scrutinized carefully. Questions arise. You want to know that we are taking care of you and your dollars prudently. And we are. But we can do better in telling you how.
As we embark upon the development of the City's 2025-2026 budget, we commit to taking you with us along the way. It may take time - it's not an easy story to tell, and it's certainly not short. But if you stick with us, we know you'll feel more comfortable about how we use precious resources to provide services, amenities, and critical infrastructure.
To begin, peruse the two resources below and we'll revisit this conversation in next week's edition of Neat to Know.
Chief Financial Officer's Report Budget 2025-2026 on Shape Your City
Last Minute Market
Friday, May 10, 2 to 6 p.m. and Saturday, May 11, 10 to 4 p.m. at Towne Square, 603 First Street SE
The "Last Minute Market" in Towne Square features products from some of Medicine Hat's most talented artists and creatives. Find handmade art, jewelry, and other fun goodies, just in time for Mother's Day! It's a vibe that's all about celebrating creativity and community. This event is supported by a Community Microgrants from the City of Medicine Hat.
MARY SHANNON WILL dot.dot.dot.
until June 1 at TREX Space, #2 - 516 3rd Street SE
MARY SHANNON WILL dot.dot.dot. investigates the artist’s use of the dot, line and grid to make drawings and paintings that explore chance colour combinations and non-repeating patterns within rule-based systems. In the mid-1980s, Shannon Will started to make up rules to guide her art-making process — for example she might use the letters from the name of a place or friend to select her paint colours and determine the order in which she laid them down. In this way, fundamental colour theories, formal elements and rational structures were playfully reconfigured by chance to produce surprising vibrant abstractions of endless variety.
This exhibition includes 26 colourful abstract paintings, drawings, digital prints and mixed media works on paper produced by the artist between 1987 and 2017. Together they provide an intimate glimpse into Mary Shannon Will’s life and work; bright gems oscillating with concentrated energy drawn from the artist’s experience of the world.
Curated by Diana Sherlock for the Alberta Society of Artists
All the Time in the World
until June 1 at TREX Space, #2 - 516 3rd Street SE
All the Time in the World presents a collection of artworks that chronicle the story of an imaginary summer road trip. Borrowed from the Alberta Foundation for the Art’s permanent collection, audiences are sure to encounter familiar sites and scenes in this broad array of artworks: a 1980’s photograph of RVs parked in the picturesque Tunnel Mountain campsite; a woodcut image of bathers enjoying the upper hot springs in Banff and many more provincial icons. This exhibition longs for the easy days of summer spent driving endless roadways, sleeping in pop-up tents and marvelling at a diversity of flora and fauna. This road trip offers a respite from the busy modern life and acts as a reminder that there is more than enough time to breathe in all the goodness of the world.
Featured Artists: Carole Bondaroff, Douglas Curran, John K. Esler, David Hoffos, Amanda McKenzie, Marion Ordon, Harry Savage, Margaret Shelton, Robert Sinclair, Theresa Towers-Rickard, George Weber
Curated by Genevieve Farrell, TREX Southeast
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