"It's a pretty spectacular day for the Ag Society," says CDAS president

The Cochrane and District Agricultural Society (CDAS) is appreciative of knowing where they'll be hanging their hat with the foreseeable future.

Not only can they stay in their current location but will soon they will be the owner of the 144-acre property on the corner of Hwy. 1A and 22. Both RVC and CDAS have signed off on a deal that will give the society the property for $1.

"It's been a fairly long road, it feels like, with some ups and downs throughout it," CDAS president Justin Burwash. "This is the best outcome we could have wished for. So now we have the security of this being our long-term home forever. It's a pretty spectacular day for the Ag Society."

Burwash calls receiving unanimous support from the council the cherry on top.

"It has taken some work for the councillors to all sort of getting the confidence that this will accomplish what their goals are," says Burwash. "So, I'm very appreciative of council doing that."

"We've heard lots over the last little bit how this council has had a hard time coming together on certain topics, on a lot of the topics, and that was sort of the cherry on top to have unanimous support for everyone."

The CDAS has called its current location home for two decades after signing a 20-year lease with Rocky View County. Before acquiring the land, it appeared the Ag Society was going to be part of what is now the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre.

Five years ago, the Ag Society appeared to be threatened when the society was denied a 50-year lease extension. Shortly afterward, the RVC council of the day sought to sell the land, but a suitable proposal did not come forward. With six new RVC councillors elected in 2017, the situation changed.

In between, the Ag Society did plenty of soul-searching, looked at other possible locations, and crunched the numbers of what that would cost.

Part of that was an extensive needs assessment and business plan to build upon the successes in recent years being experienced by the Ag Society. It has diversified the range of recreational opportunities on the property and is conservatively estimated to have an annual economic impact of between $3.4 to $4.3 million.

Burwash says they are about halfway through their site planning.

"Now we can get into a little more detail on that site planning, with some preliminary architectural and preliminary geographical information on there. That will be important, even as we look at the interchange coming through the 1A and 22."

They're also working with Alberta Transportation to make sure consideration is given to their long-term plans.

In addition, they can continue to work with the town in coordinating recreational opportunities, especially with the future Horse Creek Sports Park in close proximity to CDAS.

"Now we can work directly with them also to make sure our recreation services and community services are coordinated."

The purchase agreement calls for CDAS to use the land for recreational purposes for at least 20 years.