Province buys High River apartments for flood victims

The Alberta government has purchased an apartment block in High River to provide homes for the 120 residents still displaced by last year's floods.

The temporary Saddlebrook housing community nearby is set to close by the end of the summer and the province says buying the apartment block which has 62 one-, two- and three-bedroom units will help them stay on schedule with that closure.

"We're going to continue to work with each family as Saddlebrook moves to closure," said Greg Weadick, Alberta's municipal affairs minister. "We hope to have all the families moved in to more permanent locations by the end of August and then by October we can have Saddlebrook decommissioned."

Weadick says the High River apartments will eventually be converted to a long-termlow- to medium-income housing solution.

The province had already spent $14 million on preliminary work on another interim housing project in High River.

However, the Highwood Junction project is not proceeding.