The City of Medicine Hat could spend $20,000 to remove the sea-cans. Courtesy/City of Medicine Hat

By Eli J. Ridder

CITY HALL

Medicine Hat city council will consider removing the Towne Square sea cans

Nov 18, 2024 | 11:37 AM

The Towne Square sea cans, a defining element of the downtown space, may be removed in the near future should Medicine Hat city council approve a staff proposal coming forward at Monday evening’s public meeting.

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READ: Medicine Hat’s downtown sea cans may soon be gone

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The city’s manager of cultural experiences and events Aaron Nelson told a council committee in October the eight market pods aren’t being used for the right purposes. Even when they are, it’s a tough sell.

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“We are finding that some folks are using Town Square to sleep at night, and that can be quite unsafe,” Nelson told CHAT News last month as he pointed out the alley-like sightlines created by what some have dubbed “tin-can alley”.

The pods are also not popular for their intended use.

“The market pods are suboptimal for what we’re trying to do with them,” he said, explaining that vendors were only in the pods for 80 hours this year.

People passing the sea cans are unable to see inside unless they are passing right in front of the door. They aren’t regulated well for temperature, Nelson said.

Removing what the city calls market pods to the city’s Marshall yard from Town Square will cost $20,000, staff say.

The city has spent over $20,000 on cleaning the site, Nelson said. But it has made $29,609 in parking revenue, staff report.

The City of Medicine Hat received 124 contributions to an online survey asking for the community’s feedback on the future of the pods, according to Monday’s upcoming staff presentation.

There was a variety of ideas that came forward: turn the pods into tiny homes for shelter, sell the sea cans in an attempt to make back some of their cost or use them for recreation purposes, among others.

Should council approve removing the sea cans, next steps would include figuring out what happens to them next.

For that task, the city will use a scoring rubric that will consider the benefit to the community and the value to taxpayers.

Image/City of Medicine Hat

Even without the unique identifer of the sea cans, the Towne Square will continue to be a successful space, cultural experiences and event manager Nelson said in October.

“If anybody remembers what this place looked like, say, six years ago, it was a very different place,” Nelson said.

“Now we have this excellent, safe, well-lit parking area. The sunshade is amazing and you’ll see many people having lunch and spending time under here during the summer,” he added.

“Town Square is very successful for what it is.”