Pope visits highlight September issues from '80s
24.09.11
As construction is set to begin on the final stage of Ray Gibbon Drive later this year or early next, it’s interesting to find some of the first mentions of the road in issues of the St. Albert Gazette from the 1980s. One of the first speed bumps in the road’s development came in September 1980, when a 3,000-signature petition came to city council asking for the question of the road to be put to voters in a plebiscite during the coming October’s municipal election. The decision to do so was made a couple of weeks later, although wrangling over the actual questions would continue for some time.
Meanwhile, that same month, the mayor’s paycheque increased from $23,512 a year to $30,000. Aldermen at the time supported the change, noting that the average household income in St. Albert in 1980 was $37,650. The man to receive that hefty paycheque was also determined in September 1980, as Richard Fowler was acclaimed mayor when nominations closed.
September 1980 also saw St. Albert hold its first Terry Fox Run in hopes of continuing the efforts Fox made for cancer research in the country. The run is still an annual tradition in the city today.
Source: St. Albert Gazette