The Olds Agricultural Society unveiled a plan last week to move its facilities out of Olds to the northeast quadrant of the Olds overpass at Highway 2/27, within the next five years.
 
The plan also includes a hotel, racetrack and casino complex on the site currently owned by Alberta Transportation.
 
At the OAS’s annual general membership meeting on Thursday, Eric Bone of Commonwealth Corporate Support Services explained that the move is part of a larger five-year plan his firm has helped devise for the OAS for it to remain a thriving organization.
 
Bone explained to members that OAS officials met with Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Richard Marz on Nov. 12 for exploratory talks about the land.
 
Marz indicated in the meeting that Alberta Transportation doesn’t need as much land for the upgraded overpass as it had first thought and so could be open to land acquisition by the OAS. A meeting with Transportation Minister Luke Ouellette is scheduled for January to talk further about potential land acquisition.
 
We are at the preliminary stages. Nothing is written in stone,” said Curtis Flewelling, president of the OAS.
 
The parcel is about 100 acres, but Flewelling said the amount of land the OAS ends up with would depend on negotiations with the province.
 
The planned move would include all of the current OAS facilities in Olds, plus a racetrack/casino component and a hotel. The province has indicated it thinks the location would be ideal for a truck stop.
 
Flewelling said once discussions with the province have successfully concluded, the OAS would take the plan to Mountain View County for its approval. He said preliminary talks with MVC officials took place after Thursday night’s meeting, but formal discussions would await a successful conclusion with the province.