A City of Lethbridge employee demonstrates the VR facility tours inside the city hall. (Image Credit: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

City of Lethbridge launching VR tours of facilities

Jan 28, 2026 | 9:03 AM

There is now a new educational way to explore city facilities.

Asheley Cowie, Education and Outreach Lead for Infrastructure Services at the City of Lethbridge, says she and her team have developed virtual reality (VR) tours of seven municipal facilities throughout the community.

“It’s not well known what the infrastructure services are because they’re not facilities that a lot of people explore, and we want our residents of all ages to see what we do,” says Cowie.

The first major event in which people can try out the VR tours is at the Community Conversation, which takes place Thursday, Jan. 29, from 3:00-7:00 p.m. at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

READ MORE: Over 40 projects & services to be showcased at Lethbridge’s Community Conversation

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

Regarding the Community Conversation, she explains, “It’s an opportunity to see seven different facilities that we have tours of, where you explore, you can see the facilities, you can see how things work, and it’s an interactive opportunity to engage and get some education around our infrastructure services.”

VR tours are currently available for the Materials Recovery Facility, organics processing facility, electrical substation, the water and wastewater treatment plants, Park ‘n’ Ride Transit Terminal, and three Lethbridge Transit buses.

“I think it’s really important for our residents to understand how our city works, especially when we do have projects coming up, and people maybe don’t understand the expense or the work that needs to go into these projects,” says Cowie. “It’s an opportunity to see the insides of these facilities and build a bit of transparency and trust around what we are offering and who we are as a city and our infrastructure services.”

The infrastructure services team will also be taking the tours to local schools. As one example she provided, students could learn more about how sewage is treated without having to go into a big, stinky building.

Cowie says her team is working on developing a website where people can check out the tours at any time, and they will create tours of additional facilities.