The Town of Ladysmith is moving forward with a $25-million arts and heritage hub, a key feature within its new Waterfront Area Plan.
“It’s been a long road. This is really built on the shoulders of decades of work,” Mayor Aaron Stone said Tuesday.
The build-out of the waterfront plan depends on future funding and just like the earlier work, that could take decades, he said. It is designed to diversify the economy, attract tourism, honour cultures and provide amenities to Ladysmith, a town of about 8,500 between Duncan and Nanaimo.
A request for proposals, issued by the town, for an architect to provide construction drawings and design supervision for the first $4.3-million phase at the arts and heritage hub closed Friday. Close to $3.3 million in federal money came in for this stage.
The architect will consultation with stakeholders on a new committee. “We are really big on engagement,” Stone said.
Under a best-case scenario construction could start on the first phase of the arts and heritage hub later in 2021, but it may take longer, Stone said.
The hub will see new amenities and enhancements to what is already in place. Historic buildings, such as an old machine shop, have been used by artists and other non-profit groups.
Designs will prominently feature Coast Salish traditions, recognizing the town’spartnership with the local Stz’uminus First Nation.
The vision features a new 4,500-square-foot artist studio, a 1,500-square-foot cafe and gift shop and a 656-foot long boardwalk running along the edge of Oyster Bay Drive. Avibrant area filled with outdoor activities such as art displays, interactive exhibits, performances, special events and places to sit and enjoy the view are planned.
Kathy Holmes, president of the Arts Council of Ladysmith and District, welcomes town’s support, “recognizing that artists bring economic development.”
“Hopefully for us in the long term, it creates a really healthy arts hub where people can come and enjoy art, create art, be part of the whole experience.”
To demonstrate enthusiasm for art in the community, the Ladysmith’s art gallery (now temporarily closed because of the pandemic) drew 13,000 visitors in 12 months between 2018 and 2019, Holmes said. “That’s a lot for a little town.”
As well, a consultant is evaluating land, which will need remediation thanks to its industrial history. Provincial approvals will be required for development.
The arts and heritage hub is being developed within the larger Waterfront Area Plan, located on steeply sloping land east of the Trans Canada Highway, bordered by Transfer Beach Park and north to the Fisherman’s- Government wharf and an existing business area.
This larger area covers 121 acres. Of that, 56.8 acres of land and filled area and another 64 acres are provincial water leases. The upland property is owned by the town.
The plan was crafted with Stz’uminus First Nation, the area’s original inhabitants. Today’s plans are about creating mutual opportunities with good outcomes for everyone, Stone said.
Elder Ray Harris (Shulqwilum), of the Stz’uminus First Nation, was quoted in the area plan stating, “Industry and pollution have affected our way of life. All around in the harbour you’ll see middens, clam shells. Today, for the last 30 years, there has not been a clam in this harbour fit for human consumption. Maybe longer than that. So there’s work to be done.”
A Stz’uminus First National Cultural Centre is planned on the water’s edge, expected to showcase culture, artists and retail space.
Once remediation is completed that will unlock the potential and value of the site, Stone said, anticipating that private investors will be attracted to the location.
Plans call for approximately 52 per cent devoted to parkland, 17 per cent for commercial use, 5.7 per cent for industrial use, nine per cent for five-to-six storey residential apartments, three per cent for two-to-three-storey townhouses, 10.5 per cent for institutional use, and 3.4 per cent in mixed use live-work-learn spaces.
Options include a small boutique inn, a marine services area and a commercial fishing wharf. A new park is planned at Slack Point, at the southern end of the property, once the land is remediated.
