Material Type

Manuscript

Date Range

1974-1986

Physical Condition

Excellent

History Biographical

The Railway Relocation Project, Later Known As The "Centresite Project" Involved The Removal Of The Tracks And Buildings Of The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) In The Centre Of Lethbridge, And The Development Of The Land For Various Commercial And Non-Commercial Uses. The Project Involved All Three Levels Of Government - Municipal, Provincial And Federal - As Well As The CPR Through Its Land Holding Company, Marathon Realty.

The Railway Relocation Project Took Place In Three Phases, The First Being Preparation (1975-1980). The Federal Relocation And Crossing Act (1974) Prompted The City Of Lethbridge To Negotiate Agreements With The Federal And Provincial Governments In February 1974 In Order To Begin Studies And Planning For The Eventual Removal Of The Cpr Rail Yards From The Centre Of The City.

In The Fall Of 1980 The Plans Were Complete And Approved By All Parties With An Interest In The Project. Agreements Were Signed Between The City And The Province, And An Agency Was Created To Manage The Orderly Development Of What Was To Become Centre site. The CPR Also Signed The Agreement To Sell The Land To The City Of Lethbridge.

The Next Phase Of The Project Was Area Development (1980-1985). This Phase Involved Selling The Land For Various Tasks Needed To Convert The Site From Rail Yards To Development Property Were Completed: Removal Of Tracks And Buildings, Road And Bridge Changes, And Final Configuration Of The Site And Its Land Parcels.

The Last Phase Of The Project Was Centre site Development (1985-1994). This Phase Involved Selling The Land For Various Commercial And Non-Commercial Use Which Have Culminated In A New Urban Landscape For The Centre Of Lethbridge.

In 1994 The Project Agency Which Was Created To Manage The Railway Relocation And Centre site Disbanded, Marking The End Of The Original Project. The City Of Lethbridge Closed Its Financial Books On Centre site In 1998.

Explanation Of The Arrangement Of The Fonds:

The Text Records Have Been Arranged Into The Following Series: Minutes Of Various Groups And Agencies Connected With The Project (1977-1986); Financial Records (1981-1984); Newspaper Clippings (1974-1986); Graphic Materials Such As Maps And Drawings (1976-1986); Proposals, Reports And Studies (1975-1993); And Correspondence (1975-1994). Within The Series Are Two Sub-Series: Subject Files (1976-1994) And General Files (1975-1994).

There Are Six Photograph Albums In The Fonds; Four On The Project Itself An One On The Opening Of Park Place Shopping Mall In August 1988. The Sixth Album Contains Photographs Of A Variety Of Subjects, Most Obviously Not Related To The Railway Relocation And Dated Primarily In 1984. The Project Photographs Were Taken By Terry Bland, On A Contract.

There Are Three Series Of 35mm Slides In The Fonds. One Series Of 26 Slides Is A Promotion For The Centre site Development. Another Series Of Slides Are From The City's Personnel Department, For Employee Orientation. The Last

Series Is A Large Collection, Of Which Only A Small Part Seem To Relate To Centre site Development.

There Were Photographs Filed With Text Records Through Out The Fonds. The Photographs Have Been Extracted From The Files, And Cross Referenced Back To Their Source With As Much Information That Was Available From The File.

Acquisition Source

City Of Lethbridge

Scope and Content

Approximately 6.4cm030) Railway Relocation Study Newspaper Coverage; Part 1. 1974 To 1979031) Railway Relocation Study Newspaper Coverage; Part 2. 1980032) Newspaper Clippings. 1981 To 1982033) Newspaper Clippings. 1983 To 1986

Access Restrictions

Public Access

Accession No.

19951058030

Collection

Archive

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