Outgoing councillor hopes to light up Rideau Park

Brandon’s deputy mayor says he will not seek re-election this October — but he wants to get the city to start lighting up Rideau Park next year.

Coun. Glen Parker (Ward 9) announced his retirement from city council to the Sun on Tuesday, almost exactly 10 years after he was first elected in a byelection.

“It’s been good, the people in this ward, the people in the businesses … I’ve really liked working with them,” Parker said in an interview at Rideau Park. “It’s been a privilege to represent them.”

The former longtime Brandon Sun employee said his departure from politics after three terms on council will give him more time to focus on family.

Parker, 69, said in his last six months on council, he wants to bring forward his vision for Rideau Park, which he hopes would start with lighting up the water tower at the site.

“I’d love to see that thing lit up blue at night,” he said. “We could put a picture station. There’s a stairway up there, up the hill by the toboggan hill — it would be a phenomenal setting, and especially in the winter when it’s dark at five o’clock.”

The water tower was built in 1930 and decommissioned in 2003. Parker said it would be a prime spot for tourists to take photos at, which could include people from other parts of Westman coming to go tobogganing.

The tower was slated to be demolished in 2012, but the plan was cancelled by council following public outcry. A city official in 2017 said the structure was in “surprisingly good condition” following a structural assessment.

“Nothing says Brandon quite like that old water tower,” Parker said, noting that it also “needs a little lipstick” because of some rust and age.

“I just think it would be a good use of the old sign. We haven’t had water in it for a long time,” he said.

Parker said he has shared the plans with some city staff, council members, citizens and Economic Development Brandon. He said he plans to bring it to all of council in the future.

After city officials are presented the plan, Parker said people in the area around the park would also need to be consulted on whether the lighting would be distracting or if the lights might need to be on a timer.

The project could also be expanded into additional lights around the park, he suggested, noting that a decision like that would likely come after his departure from council.

“I think this park could be totally spectacular,” he said, adding that the park is already special in the summer when the playground, pool and green space are being used.

The city is currently planning to build a new outdoor pool to replace the aging Kinsmen Centennial Pool at Rideau Park. The new pool will likely be built at the Keystone Centre, but could also replace the existing Rideau location instead.

Parker said the Keystone location is probably the better one for a new pool as there’s more parking, but that he would like to see a smaller second pool at Rideau later as well.

At the city’s budget meeting in January, Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6) moved for a second pool to be built at Rideau for the early 2030s. The opening date for a primary new pool is scheduled for 2028, with construction expected to start next year, the city previously said.

Parker said serving as a councillor has been a positive experience, though he wishes council could have made decisions a bit faster, which for larger projects would have saved the city money.

For example, the city’s southwest lift station could have cost $10 million less had the city not delayed decisions, he said.

“We should have recognized right away that that was important, and how important it was,” Parker said.

Uncertainty related to tariffs from the United States and the COVID-19 pandemic caused costs to spike.

“I wish there was a mechanism for us to get decision-making done quicker and to act quicker.”

He said he would also like the city to change the way it funds major projects, through a combination of reserves and borrowing money, which he has brought up to city administration.

“I’d really like us to have a hard look at that and see if there is a better system out there, probably somewhere in between the two that we’re doing now,” he said.

Parker also said that serving as deputy mayor has been “ridiculously easy” with Jeff Fawcett as mayor, as Fawcett is “everywhere.”

He said the position was never too demanding and that the rest of council is easy to work with.

Parker was first elected in a byelection in May 2016 in what was then the Riverview ward. He was re-elected in 2018 and acclaimed in 2022. His term will end on Oct. 28 when the municipal and school board elections take place.

Councillors Kris Desjarlais (Ward 2) and Barry Cullen (Ward 3) have also announced they won’t seek re-election.

» alambert@brandonsun.com