An upstart group from Nordegg is working toward a brand new community hall.
Ken Saunders, chair of the Nordegg Community Hall Committee, presented the proposal to Clearwater County council on June 10, saying a new building would be more cost-effective and better equipped to meet both current and future needs.
“Our full-time population has tripled over the past decade,” Saunders told council. “The current hall has facility defects, aging plumbing, accessibility issues, and no longer meets fire codes or occupancy standards.”
While engineering estimates put the cost of bringing the existing building up to code at around $126,000, Saunders said building new is the better long-term option.
He says a new facility could include an emergency response and shelter space, a “new home” for the post office, and even a potential K-6 school for local families.
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The hall could also serve as a small conference centre for larger meetings to be hosted in the hamlet, he adds.
A preferred site near the existing hall and community ice rink has already been identified.
Saunders adds, the committee also travelled to Cadomin, Alberta to tour a new community hall recently built in that community “in four years for four million dollars.”
“The designs we did were based on the Cadomin facility for a variety of reasons,” says Saunders. “The design is effective enough to be repeated.”
Ken Saunders, chair of the Nordegg Community Hall Comittee speaks before Clearwater County council, June 10, 2025. (Clearwater County/YouTube)
Councillors accepted the presentation for information, with Councillors Neil Ratcliffe and Jordon Northcott expressing early support for the initiative.
Ratcliffe called it an “ambitious project”, that could attract investment to Nordegg— particularly with the possible conference centre.
Northcott opined that spending money on community halls in the county should be a higher priority than the “tens of millions” the county is spending on broadband.
The committee is hosting a public open house on Friday, June 28, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Nordegg Discovery Centre to gather community input and help shape a final concept and timeline.
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