Medicine Hat Minute: Apartment Proposal, Candidate Announcement, and Transportation Open Houses

Medicine Hat Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Medicine Hat politics

This Week In Medicine Hat:

• The Public Services Committee will meet this afternoon at 3:45 pm. The agenda includes the Fire and Emergency Services 2024 Year-In-Review Report, as well as updates from the Managing Director on the Family & Community Support Services Call for Applications, Transit Driver Appreciation Day, and the "Long Term Shelter Solutions in Medicine Hat" meeting held on February 26th, 2025.
  
  
• The Administrative and Legislative Review Committee will meet on Tuesday at 4:00 pm. No agenda is available for this meeting yet.
  
  
• The City of Medicine Hat is hosting two open houses to gather public input on its Transportation Master Plan, which includes Active Transportation and Transportation Safety strategies. The first session will be held on March 11th at the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm followed by a second on March 12th from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at Medicine Hat College’s Centennial Room. Residents can review the draft plan, ask questions, and provide feedback to City staff and project consultants. The plan, which has been in development since July 2023, aims to guide transportation policies and infrastructure improvements through 2050.

Last Week In Medicine Hat:

• Kelly Allard, a local web journalist and former 2021 City Council candidate, has officially registered for the 2025 municipal election, becoming the first candidate to do so. Allard ran in 2021, finishing 14th out of 33 candidates, and has since been a vocal critic of the current Council. While the mayoral and school board trustee races have yet to see any registered candidates, Mayor Linnsie Clark plans to announce her intentions in the spring or summer. The nomination period for all positions will close on September 22nd, with election day set for October 20th.
  
  
• A new apartment development has been proposed, which will add 76 rental units across two buildings on a vacant lot near the Medicine Hat Remand Centre. The buildings will be wheelchair accessible and designed to meet the growing demand for rental housing in the area. The first building, with 38 units, could be completed by spring 2027, with the second building finished by 2029. The developer is working closely with the City's Economic Development team to get the project underway, and with final approval, they plan to move forward with construction soon.
  
  
• It was announced that exterior renovations on the historic Monarch Theatre are set to resume this spring. Those renovations are part of a $1.15 million conservation project aimed at restoring the theatre to its 1940 appearance. The work will focus on completing the front facade, including tile work and updating the marquee. The renovation project is being carried out in phases while the theatre continues to operate. The Monarch 1911 Society, which took ownership in fall 2023, plans to complete the restoration in the next four years, depending on funding from donations, grants, and increased programming.

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