The Future of the Facilities
The negative impact of the closures can be to a great extent offset if the radar station facilities are properly used after the closures. Each site has been offered by the federal government through Public Works Canada (PWC) to the other federal departments, to the provincial governments, and if there is no reversion clause, to municipalities and regional governments and finally to the private sector via public tender. Local communities have been formed at each location to help in search for a suitable alternative use of the facilities. Although matters tend to change rather often, the latest developments as of the beginning of March were as follows:
CFS Alsask
The local community has been quite active in seeking alternatives and has had several government agency briefings. Originally, the Alberta Regional Education Program wanted to convert the facilities into an agricultural centre for farmers. However, because of budgetary constraints and other reasons, this project has been postponed. For now, the most viable alternative seems to be a project proposed by the town of Alsask and the Royal Canadian Legion. They want to use the facilities as a retirement center for old people. They would live in the former PMQ’s and make use of the existing dining, messing and recreational facilities. Such a project would be realistic, answer a regional need and would create a certain number of jobs. The project is backed financially and technically by the provincial government.
This article was obtained from the National Archives of Canada. Unfortunately, there is no way of identifying the source since we were only provided with the appropriate detail pertaining to this station. The article appears to have been written in the summer of 1988.