Plans for former Greyhound bus station in Sunalta not coming until early 2023

Completed plans for the former Greyhound bus station in Sunalta will have to wait.

City officials told Calgary's infrastructure and planning committee they require more time to look at opportunities for the site.

In Septemberof 2021, council asked administration to look at what could be done at the city-owned building and to report back by the end of June.

On Thursday, city administration asked the committee to extend thedeadline to early 2023.

"We are actually not losing any time or ground, but we felt that what we would be reporting back in this quarter was really insufficient," said Rhonda Dupuis, who is with the city's leasing and property management unit.

"So we felt that it would be much better to come with a true, fulsome plan for the site."

The Greyhound station off Bow Trail and 14th Street closed in the fall of 2018. After 89 years, the transportation companyannounced it wouldendits service in Western Canada.

• 'It's the end of an era': Alberta's last-ever Greyhound bus leaves the station

Since then, it's been used for a number of interim projects, such as police training exercises, film productions and even a drop-in COVID-19 testing centre.

Courtney Walcott, the councillor for Ward 8 where the station is located said he's hearing about interest from all sorts of industries when it comes to the space.

"I think that's actually a part of it maybe the interest has been so high that we just want to really ensure that what we bring forward is perfect," he said.

"We're seeing all this revitalization happen in other parts of the city, and I think everybody knows that that's going to be the next one that we have to start paying attention to."

The chair of the infrastructure and planning committee, Coun.Gian-Carlo Carra, said he's also happy to give administration more time to come up with the right solution.

"I guess the conversation right now is how many different interesting groups can we put together to good public effect?"

Administration plans to enlist a third party to look at how the space could be designed for some of the different ideas they're hearing.

When they return with a plan in 2023, staff intend to bring forward the most viable ideas as well as an associated budget and financing proposal.