Having served alongside elected officials for decades, a part of St. Albert’s heritage is getting some tender loving care.
The city council desk at St. Albert Place may not seem special to some with its modest appearance and plywood built, but the humble piece of furniture played a crucial role in the design of council chambers by architect Douglas Cardinal back in the mid-1980s.
With council already in the midst of upgrading council chambers (last year, the gallery was improved for accessibility), the heritage advisory committee was tasked with providing recommendations for what could be done with the desk.
Committee chair Grant Clarke said the committee back in March wanted to see what the plan was for the desk and if there were any significant plans to make changes.
“We’re OK with trying to make the desk more functional for this day and age,” he said. “But we just wanted to see what the actual plans were. (The desk) is a concept that Douglas Cardinal did have with the idea that the mayor is above the rest of the councillors and the councillors are above city staff and the public is above everybody.”
The changes coming to the desk include fixing some of the stainings, placing councillors’ nameplates in front and other minor alterations.
Clarke said since the desk played an important role in Cardinal’s vision for the space, the committee was concerned about possibly disrupting that vision.
“You don’t want the integrity of the building and the initial vision to be impacted,” he said. “Each individual little thing may not seem like a big change but you end up with death by a thousand cuts. You give everyone a standing desk (as an example) and then somebody else wants to change the colour of the brick.”
Coun. Wes Brodhead, who requested the committee take a look at the desk back in February, said when council decided to upgrade the chambers, there was a realization the desk wasn’t very compatible with modern technology.
“It might have been when it was built back in the early '80s, but there’s not enough power, you got cords running all over the place,” he said. “The setup isn’t ideal. The plan to renovate the desk was put on hold because of a concern around the idea that the desk might be of historical consequence.”
With the heritage committee giving the green light to move forward with the changes, Brodhead added he hopes at the end of the day council gets a more functional desk.
