L to R: Bill Quinney (Olds Collge Board Chair), Christina Zilinski (OCSA President), Blake Richards (Member of Parliament, Wild Rose), Dr. Tom Thompson (Olds College President)
“The Botanic Gardens and Treatment Wetlands project at Olds College is an excellent example of the positive effects our government’s Economic Action Plan is having in communities across Canada,” said Blake Richards, the Member of Parliament for Wild Rose, who joined Olds College president Dr. Tom Thompson and board members to announce the federal funding.
“Not only will this project create local jobs and help stimulate the area economy during a time of recession, it will also leave a lasting environmental legacy that will benefit the community for years to come. I am very pleased to be able to deliver these funds for a worthwhile project that will create employment while providing a natural laboratory for environmental research,” Richards said.
The federal funding will cover more than half of the project’s total $4.768-million price tag. The Province of Alberta has matched a portion of the dollars already generated through Olds College’s fund raising campaign to cover the remainder of the costs.
The college will create a six-acre wetlands area on its lands that will treat the campus’s storm and grey water while also providing an outdoor laboratory for research into wetlands’ ability to purify grey water. This project is the first of its kind in Alberta and is expected to give researchers insight into the usefulness of plants and water features as a natural means of cleansing grey waters runoff.
As part of the project, a public botanic gardens park will be planted on the 12 acres of land comprising the botanic gardens and treatment wetlands, providing Olds College students with a second outdoor lab to study and experiment with perennial plants and trees.
“We are extremely excited to see the last pieces of this project fall into place and we are very grateful for the hard work of our M.P., Blake Richards,” said Dr. Tom Thompson, Olds College President. “This investment not only ensures the completion of our Botanic Gardens and Wetland project, it will help usher in a new area of scientific research that benefits all Albertans while providing better trained graduates for a wide variety of industries.”
The Government of Canada has made major investments in Olds College this year. In July, the college received $2.9 million in federal funding for a comprehensive infrastructure renewal project at the 96-year-old campus. And in May, the college received $500,000 to complete overdue roof repairs to facilities. Three months prior to that, the federal government had announced that, through its College and Community Innovation program, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) was committing $2.3 million to the Olds College School of Innovation’s Biodiesel Production, Alternative Feedstocks and Commercial Adoption program.
The grants bring the total of recent federal government investments in the institution to $8.3 million this year, while supporting environmental research and preparing the college to meet the demands of current and future growth.
Canada’s Economic Action Plan sets out to stimulate the national economy over the next two years and to improve the country’s long-term competitiveness through $12 billion in new infrastructure investment, which includes the $1-billion Community Adjustment Fund. The CAF will provide an economic stimulus by supporting projects that create jobs and maintain employment in and around communities that have experienced significant job losses and lack alternative employment opportunities.
For more information about the Community Adjustment Fund, please visit www.wd-deo.gc.ca online.
Contacts:
Derek Gordanier
Legislative Assistant
Office of Blake Richards, M.P.
(613) 513-4999
Rick Overwater
Communications Coordinator,
Olds College
(403) 507-7717
This news release is also available online at www.BlakeRichards.ca
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