Since the canals project dried up in late 2008, there hasn’t been much talk around Red Deer’s future as a tourism destination.

The Advocate recently posted an online poll which revealed readers’ dismal evaluation of our tourism appeal. Online commenters fiercely debated Red Deers ups and downs. Some touted amenities like camp sites, rec facilities, and natural landscape — all of which are tremendous community assets to be sure — but let’s be realistic. Nobody is packing up the family and traveling 500 kilometres to visit the Red Deer Museum or the Lion’s Campground.

I thought the canals idea has serious potential for our community, but with a nation-wide recession looming, people weren’t keen on millions of tax dollars being invested into such a frivolous project.

The crushing of the canals idea left us with the impression there was little appetite for grandiose tourism schemes in Red Deer, so I was a bit surprised to see this story on the front page of Thursday’s Advocate: • World-class attraction proposed for Riverlands

It seems a group of forward-thinking folks have been carefully crafting a new idea that would, in theory, turn Red Deer into a major tourist destination. Their extravagant proposal includes children’s theme park, a ground transportation museum in the heart of Riverlands, visitor accommodations modelled after historic rail stations and a nature park.

Forth Junction Heritage Society president Paul Pettypiece told the Advocate the “very bold and ambitious” concept will take about 20 years to fully develop, a lot of work and millions of dollars to realize.

It’s nice to see somebody taking tourism seriously in Central Alberta.

Undoubtedly, the opponents to this new idea are already forming their protests in acrimonious letters to local newspapers and politicians.

Well naysayers, it comes down to the old mantra of ‘you gotta spend money to make money.’ When it comes to investing in tourism, go big or go home.

As residents in my hometown of Chauvin can attest, being home to the old spherical septic tank they converted to be the World’s Largest Softball hasn’t generated much tourism over the past 25 years. And I doubt many folks are pulling out the motorhome for a weekend at the giant Glendon Perogy or St. Paul’s UFO landing pad.

Establishing ourselves as a must-visit location means thinking on a grand scale and investing millions of dollars.

If Red Deer is serious about becoming a tourism destination, than we need to get serious about providing visitors with attractions worth traveling for.