Town to close office for move; to offer tours of new building

By Rob Vogt, Local Press Writer
The Town of Claresholm office will close for two days to move into its new building while tours will also be offered of the new building.
At its March 8 meeting by video conference, town council was updated on operations by Marian Carlson, the town’s chief administrative officer.
She explained that on Feb. 28 they did a walk-through of the new building and received the keys.
There is still some exterior work to be done such as on the parking lot, signs and the staining of beams.
She had nothing but praise for the town staff.
“They’ve done a fantastic job,” she said. “Very pleased with our staff.”
Carlson also expressed her appreciation to the building committee.
The furniture is expected in mid-March while staff are currently boxing up as much as possible at the old office.
It is anticipated to take two days to move so Carlson was looking to close town operations on March 31 and April 1 so they could do that move.
She expects the new town office to be open the Tuesday after the Easter long weekend.
Carlson noted that with health guidelines in place to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the town cannot have an open house.
Instead, she was looking at creating a video tour similar to the ones done for the new day care and playschool.
She also proposed tours where members of council and town staff could take people through the new building.
The tours would be booked online at 20-minute intervals.
“To just give community members an opportunity to be able to see the facility,” Carlson said. “This community was such a good supporter.”
She added it is important to recognize who supported the project and those interested in seeing the facility.
“It’s their dollars going to work,” Carlson said.
Council then agreed to allow scheduled tours of the new multi-use building, following all COVID-19 procedures and guidelines, for March 24 to 26, with additional dates of March 29 and 30 if required.
Council also agreed to close the town administration office on March 31 and April 1, to allow staff to move into the new building.