The Al-Terra Story

All land development projects in Edmonton came to a sudden halt midway through this year due to the dramatic downturn of the economy which included a dramatic increase in mortgage rates which impacted Land Development. Projects were either cancelled or put on indefinite hold. At the time, Al-Terra was only doing land development work. Al-Terra worked to retain its employees until they could find alternate employment and by the end of the year Al-Terra was down to a core of four people (Leo and Corry Broks, Karen Roland and Derek Peel).

These lean times were amid the severe economic recession of the 1980s and affected every industry in Alberta. Al-Terra was no stranger to this economic strain and the small team pivoted to visiting small cities, towns, and villages in search of work. They were rewarded for these efforts with drainage work in Wetaskiwin, work on the 36 Street arterial, and a water and sewer project in Village of Thorhild, Alberta.

Nottingham is an upscale subdivision on about 130 hectares in the southeast part of Sherwood Park, Alberta. Our team completed all civil engineering design, including stormwater management, and provided engineering services for construction. Additionally, landscape architecture for this project was undertaken by Penny Dunford of EDA (now Al-Terra).
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The Urban Development Institute, Edmonton Metro, awarded Leo Broks the prestigious Spirit of UDI award. 

In February, Drew Haggerty joined Al-Terra as a Permanent Staff Member. Vira Mykhaylyak joined Al-Terra in September of 2005.

We began doing Neighbourhood Renewals with City of Edmonton.

Al-Terra and ISL Infrastructure Systems Ltd. receive the Award of Merit (Project Management) for our Hwy 2 – South Innisfail Interchange project from the Consulting Engineers of Alberta (CEA) Showcase Awards

Brad Crossland joined Al-Terra as permanent staff in May and Glen Thoman joined in July.

Leo and Corry Broks receive the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Distinguished Achievement from CEA.

Sheldon was appointed as Director to the Board of the Association of Consulting Engineers – Canada (ACEC), serving until 2019. He also served as ACEC Liaison to the Consulting Engineers Association of Canada during that period.

Christine Cam (March) and Curtis Flack (May) joined the team this year. Alex Malsbury completed a co-op term with Al-Terra.

Walterdale Bridge

Al-Terra worked with a collaborative group of four Edmonton-based consulting firms let by ISL Engineering and Land Services on this complex project for the City of Edmonton. A Concept Planning Study for Bridge Replacement and Approach Roads Evaluation was completed in 2017 for this project that ultimately led to a continuation of detailed design and construction engineering services through the same team.

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In February, Sheldon Hudson was appointed President and CEO of Al-Terra and Kelly Alsmo and Dana Leithead were appointed Vice Presidents.

Joining the team in June were Catherine Murray, Elmer Lacerna, Thu Ngo, and Doris Kamala. In August Gerald Dion joined the team followed by Dana Preece in October.

We celebrated the retirement of Leo Broks and Ted Muller however, they remained available for support to our team on a casual basis

The Urban Development Institute, Edmonton Metro presented Leo Broks with an Honourary Lifetime Membership Award.

Dana Leithead, P.Eng., Vice President and Manager of Municipal Engineering and Urban Renewal retired in February. In that same month Al-Terra’s leadership team gained the addition of Fred Greenhough as Manager of Rural Transportation, Brad Crossland as Manager of Transportation Planning and Joleen Mazurat as Manager of Urban Transportation. Derek Porter became Manager of Municipal Engineering in March and Cyril Balitbit joined Al-Terra as Manager of Urban Renewal in May.

Dominic L’Heureux and Stephan Menard joined the team in April, Layne Pukalo in May, and Rudolf De Guzman in November.

Kellam Berg Engineering & Legal Surveys (Calgary) joined Al-Terra in November.

Jasper Avenue New Vision

The DIALOG / Al-Terra Joint Venture was retained by the City of Edmonton to provide design, tender, construction supervision, and contract administration for the Jasper Avenue New Vision Phase 2 project. . The revitalization of Jasper Avenue’s streetscape is seen as a catalyst to private sector redevelopment, a symbol of the vitality of downtown, and is a place all Edmontonians can be proud of. View the project

Strathcona Back Street
Is an award winning venture and part of a widely celebrated Neighbourhood Renewal in Edmonton. The Back Street project was an innovative approach to the neighbourhood renewal process and highlights what can emerge from a few thoughtful sketches by people with civic passion and vision.

The Back Street project emerged organically from businesses, designers, and community members who recognized the potential for spatial transformation of this alley in a key civic precinct. Back Street became a City pilot project that has thoughtfully integrated Low Impact Development (LID) with public realm enhancements. The collaborative initiative converted two City owned parking lots into pedestrian plazas built on green infrastructure. Being the first of its kind in the city the project navigated multiple challenges including refining policies for shared streets, limited funding, and retrofitting infrastructure into a constrained urban context.

Early inventory and analysis identified site drainage issues in flood modelling, which unlocked funding sources from EPCOR’s LID program and a grant from the Green Municipal Fund. The grant is awarded to projects that “awarded to projects that: “reflect the very best examples of municipal leadership in sustainable development”. The Strathcona Back Street site has become an important public space addition to an area rich with festivals, events and programming, and local businesses and people benefit from the use of this transformed public space.

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