BONNYVILLE – The Town of Bonnyville hosted an open house for their Downtown and Main Street Streetscape and Urban Landscape Strategy, where residents could come and get a tour of the presentation and leave feedback notes.
The Town of Bonnyville hired urban designer Dnyanesh Deshpande to create a downtown vision, which included suggestions such as murals, natural warm tones to facades, more communal spaces, trees, decorative lighting, signage, and upgraded crosswalks.
Deshpande said he had previously come to Bonnyville and completed a walk-through of the town.
“We realized you need some warmth on the street. That’s where the ideas around incorporating wood elements came in and some brighter colours, to animate the cold winters,” said Deshpande.
The designs encompassed a motif that mirrored the town’s abundant nature, recreation, and lakes. Natural wood and stone were suggested for base colours.
Mark Laver, economic development officer with the Town of Bonnyville, said it created a “natural Canadian” feel to the designs that is very welcoming, and fitting for an area with a lot of year-round outdoor recreation.
Entrance nodes, and signage was suggested as a way to entice people to drive through Bonnyville.
“It’s about first impressions. We want people to drive through, stop at the businesses, and see what we have to offer here. Maybe they will decide to move here,” said Laver.
Laver was giving tours of the presentation at the Centennial Centre (C2) on Jan. 30. Laver commented that the feedback had been very validating, and residents are continually bringing up suggestions that align with the Town of Bonnyville’s vision.
Laver spoke about the possibility of a “community hub” in town, where people could enjoy seating in a beautiful area, potentially with trees, art installments, or string lights – an area where people could take a cup of coffee to sit and visit.
Laver reminded residents that the plan will not happen all at once, but in reasonable increments.
“I’d love to do it all, but we have to stay within our yearly budgets . . . the first call of action when we start these projects will be to look for grants,” said Laver.
