The Heritage Festival will be allowed to use the barn where it stores its equipment year-round after all.
The City of Edmonton and Heritage Festival officials met Friday to discuss the eviction notice issued by city administration, and the decision was reversed.
We're keeping the barn! Thanks #yeg, @Paulatics @doniveson and more, for huge support. Late Fri afternoon mtg with @CityofEdmonton officials resulted in removal of eviction notice, plus agreement to explore longer-term initiatives such as new off-site storage facility.
— Heritage Festival (@EdmHeritageFest) August 13, 2018
Mayor Don Iveson is not happy about how the back and forth played out in the public.
“I think on all sides, if we could have resolved this without a piñata session in the press, that would have been preferable. And so to our partners and to city administration, I think this is not a good way to govern the city; with headlines and retorts and knee-jerk reactions, one way or the other.”
Last Thursday, Iveson said he was “pissed off” about the city’s decision to take the barn away from the Heritage Festival.
Later that day, City of Edmonton Manager Linda Cochrane responded in a press conference.
“I’d really like to thank the mayor for reminding us in a very public way of our very public service role,” Cochrane said.
On Monday, Iveson said he would talk to Cochrane about how the situation was handled.
The mayor maintained he’s glad the festival will keep the barn, but insisted the city and its partners must work better together.
“I think it still raises some questions about how we’re working with our partners effectively and also expectations for our partners on how to work with us, as well.”
