“We’re looking for High River to become not just another bedroom town for Calgary, we want to establish an identity that builds on our unique history and the promise of progressive, well-balanced growth,” says High River Mayor Les Rempel.

Town Manager Harry Harker agrees, “We want people from the south end of Calgary to commute to High River for work instead of the other way around. Better yet, to settle in town and experience the ease of life we offer.”

The short-term strategy focuses on preparing for growth and positioning downtown as the place to be concentrating on development of retail shops, offices, restaurants, innovative multiple family residential projects, and hotels. At the same time, limiting specific office uses and small specialty retail outside the downtown, which could help focus growth in its core.

The Town is embarking on initiatives to attract a diverse range of businesses to High River — from knowledge-based industries such as IT companies to art galleries.

Historic highs
But for all the plans for growth, it continues to hold dearly to its historic past and still proudly calls itself “A Modern Town With A Western Tradition.” Its downtown retains much of the turn-of-the-20th-century charm about it with heritage brick buildings even a historic caboose right in the town square.

A fine example is the Wales theatre in downtown; built in 1927 as the Highwood Theatre, it was renamed in 1935 in honour of Edward, Prince of Wales, who homesteaded in nearby Longview.  Today, the Wales Theatre features one of the last free-standing balconies in Canada with a Dolby surround sound system, this ancient building has been completely renovated and accented with all modern amenities.
“We’re making a lot of effort to retain this flavour of the downtown, even new construction follows the pattern of historical architecture,” Rempel says.

He should know, Rempel — who owns a home building company and has been mayor of the town since 2003 — led the revitalization of the downtown with his row of buildings on 4th Avenue that followed closely the historic architecture. “Someone had intended to build a warehouse at that site, but we strongly disagreed with it, because we felt it would just be an ugly stain and go against the character of the town.”

Rempel says leading by example had been important in getting other developers to follow suit and now downtown High River — with its historic murals, brick buildings and turn-of-the-20th-century architecture — is a proud example of the kind of growth the town aims for.

Future boom
The population in High River is rising rapidly and a recent town census says there are 11,568 people in town, but Harker says they were only able to get 88 per cent of the population to participate in the census and the real number could be closer to between 12,000 to 13,000 people.

The Calgary Regional Partnership projects High River to grow to about 28,000 people over the next 20 years, and up to 30,000 to 40,000 new residents in 40 to 50 years, representing a three- to four-fold growth. “We may have up to 50,000 people in town in 70 years. We have a residential and commercial development capacity within current boundaries for 15 to 20 years of growth, and no town can really be comfortable with that kind of margin,” Harker says.

He adds that the town has already identified as many as 25 quarter sections of land to be developed down the road. “We have a good working relationship with the M.D. of Foothills, and we’re confident we can work with them on this,” Harker adds.

The town is looking into various ways to cope with this future growth, and building more multi-family homes is one possibility. “The town has lost a lot of its original multi-family buildings over the years through fires and such, but four- or five-storey condominiums may be one way to go,” Harker says, adding it should be important that any new buildings should match the town’s identity.  “It isn’t how big the buildings are, it’s where they will be placed and how they will be used.”

There are currently at least three new condominium developments in town, including the Murals of High River in the new community of Montrose, and two adult-lifestyle condos (A View at Sunrise by Enzo Development and The Willows by Welig Developments). Medican Developments looks like it will soon be getting in on the act as well.

“To encourage more environmentally conscientious residential and commercial construction and renovations, the town is favouring projects that adhere to the LEED international building standard,” Harker says.

Future growth is supported by the already excellent infrastructure in town, including its own general hospital, lots of schools and parks, and quick and ready access to Calgary to the north and the U.S. border a couple of hours to the south.

It is this strategic location along Alberta’s economic corridor on Highway 2 that has made it a major hub for commercial and industrial traffic with easy access to air and rail transport as well as connections to major highways in all directions.

Family ties
But High River remains a predominantly single-family housing community, with an emphasis on strengthening family-friendly values. “There is a very palpable sense of strong community ties in town, with plenty of parks and walking trails and greenspace that encourages residents to get to know each other,” Rempel adds.

Cassandra Murray, a sales associate at the WestView show home in the new community of Montrose, is one of those who were attracted to this picturesque prairie town and its strong sense of family values.

“We just loved it here, we knew this was the place to raise our kids,” says the mother of two, who moved to High River with her young family two years ago. “And then to be able to work here in town makes it even more perfect.”

This is what the town is aiming for: to attract young families and be able to provide employment and services for their needs. Harker himself is from Pittsburgh, and after stints in town planning and development in Red Deer and Vancouver Island, decided to come to High River.

“I was a tourist here several times over the years and I always found it a fascinating place, so when the opportunity came up to work and live here, I grabbed the chance,” he says.

Pioneering heritage
Taking its name from the Highwood River that winds through town and essentially separates it into two parts, High River is deservedly proud of its western pioneer heritage and there are a number of historical attractions in town that point out the fact.

In the early days before the first World War, High River used to be the center of high society in southern Alberta, says Marilyn MacArthur, the Town’s Economic Development Manager.

“There was a polo club, Sunday promenades where the rich and famous go to see and be seen. Edward, Prince of Wales, was so enamoured by the town that he bought a ranch here when he visited in 1919,” she adds. “What other town in southern Alberta can claim this distinction?”

There are several outdoor pastimes that are part of life in High River. Fishing is abundant, golfing is spectacular at the 27-hole Highwood Golf and Country Club, and the popular George Lane Park offers plenty more recreational opportunities. All in all, High River encourages a healthy lifestyle. “We have the Happy Trails system that meanders along for miles through very scenic country, a nice walk for anyone,” she says.

“We are also famous as a filming location for local and international film industries. The CBC drama series ‘Heartland’ is filmed here.”

High River is also part of the clique of southern Alberta towns — including Black Diamond, Longview and Nanton — promoting day trips in the area (http://www.coollittletowns.com). “This is another way we encourage people from Calgary and area to check out what these small towns have to offer and experience our old-fashioned hospitality,” MacArthur says.