STRATFORD - Mayor Kevin Jenkins said if he had to come up with one word to sum up 2009 it would be progress.
Work began on the town's new elementary school, transit buses rolled in, talk began on regional co-operation on the storm water and sewer system, the first hybrid vehicle was purchased, a new cricket pitch opened and world-famous architect Douglas Cardinal dropped by to spark excitement about a bid for a provincial museum.
Bulldozers and construction crews began hauling mounds of red Island dirt behind Glen Stewart Elementary School in August after cabinet approved the new school in June as part of the recommendations in the Eastern School District's controversial School Organization Plan.
Unlike most schools, Glen Stewart's student population has been climbing steadily. As a result, the school has been bursting at the seams for years.
The school's capacity is 600 but there are currently 647 students attending the school, not counting the teachers and other staff. The new 54,000-square-foot facility being built will relieve this overpopulation by taking all the students and staff in Grades 4-6 and housing them in their own separate school.
Glen Stewart principal Pat Campbell said one of the biggest challenges her staff has faced in the last several years has been trying to find enough teaching space in the overpopulated school.
"We have 34 homerooms this year, so that space has been exhausted," she told The Guardian in August. "This decision to build a new school is an exciting one for the town of Stratford, a growing community, and one that we need to be proactive in looking ahead about so that we have educational facilities that meet the needs of the community."
The new school will have capacity for 420 students. It will be a standalone school, complete with a gymnasium and its own resource and staff rooms. It's being built using the design of the West Royalty Elementary School, costing government as estimated $8.7 million.
Poor economic conditions were blamed for the delay in the construction of Stratford Towers Condominiums. Construction on the $12-million project was supposed to have included two eight-storey towers.
Ray and Judy MacInnis, a community-minded Stratford couple, decided to purchase a hybrid vehicle that would reduce their personal greenhouse emissions. It was part of the Stratford In Action program, a partnership between the Town of Stratford and the Environmental Coalition of P.E.I. (ECO-PEI), with funding from Environment Canada's EcoAction Community Funding program.
World famous architect Douglas Cardinal visited in October and spoke of the need for a strong, determined vision and commitment to projects such as the town's bid to have a new P.E.I. museum on its waterfront. Jordan Brown, the unofficial co-chair and sometime spokesperson for the bid, believes the current town sewage lagoon would have to be moved if the museum is to occupy the open waterfront space south of the Hillsborough Bridge approaches.
Speaking of that lagoon, Jenkins and his counterparts in Charlottetown and Cornwall are talking about regional co-operation in terms of possibly eliminating Stratford's sewage lagoon and having the sludge pipelined over to the capital's treatment facility on Riverside Drive.
Right now the issue is being dealt with at the town level as staff mull over issues like capacity and rates.
In September, Lt.-Gov. Barbara Hagerman played the first ball to help officially open the new Tea Hill cricket facility. It was the first step in a process that will see the pitch evolve into a premier cricketing venue in the Maritimes, establishing it as an important training centre for new Island talent and one for national and international matches, Sarath Chandrasekere, president of the P.E.I. Cricket Association, said at the time.
2009 was also the first full year for Stratford on the transit system. Jumping on board was made possible through an $860,000 capital investment from the province to purchase the required two buses and eight bus shelters. The Stratford connector bus routes were expanded in November to include Reeves Estates and the Cable Heights residential areas.
Jenkins said 2009 was a good year overall.
"I've likely missed some items but, all in all, 2009 was good to Stratford and we are enthusiastic about 2010 and the future," the mayor said.
"Lots of work but lots of results, too."
Stratford in 2010:
The following list was submitted by Stratford Mayor Kevin Jenkins on what to look for in 2010:
* Concerted effort to work with developers on sustainable subdivision concepts;
* Continued work on treatment plant options with a decision on an action plan;
* Retired judge Ralph Thompson's report on Land Use and Governance for the province and resulting actions on recommendations;
* Decision on museum project location;
* Continued work toward much-needed enhanced library facilities;
* Continued sidewalk/bike path work on Keppoch Road;
* Resolution to the Mason Road/Dale Drive issue and major Trans-Canada Highway work;
* Implementation of diversity/inclusion plan;
* Closer integration with Points East Coastal Drive;
* Continued lobby for a new intermediate school.
