The District of Vanderhoof received a large donation from the Nechako-Kitimaat Development Fund Society Nov. 5 for money spent on three projects the DOV completed this past fall.
The three projects include the Vanderhoof Hotel Valuation Study, the Visitor Centre Renovations and Ferland Park Washroom.
“The washrooms at Ferland Park were atrocious, and definitely not family friendly,” said Mayor Gerry Thiessen. “It was a mandate of council to find something affordable but good for young families, so were very happy the NDKF was able to help us with the funding.”
The bathroom facility at Ferland Park received a full upgrade including new, clean and accessible bathroom stalls with improved lighting and an outdoor water fountain. The Visitor Centre renovations included a refinish of the buildings basement which created more room to store equipment.
“It was leaking everywhere so we fixed all that,” said Erin Siemens, economic development co-ordinator, about the visitor centre basement. “It also got drywalled with proper lighting installed. It was truly in poor repair down there.”
The hotel valuation study was put forth by the DOV and done by HVS Consulting and Valuation Services, a company based out of Vancouver. They looked to see the feasibility of supporting a limited-service hotel on Stewart Street in Vanderhoof. In their report they market the value of the proposed hotel would be $10,400,000 as of January 1, 2017. Full results can be seen on the District’s website.
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The NKDF is a grant-making agency that sponsors sustainable economic projects in Vanderhoof and surrounding areas. Their policy is they can fund up to 50 per cent of eligible costs of a project but actual funding is agreed upon by the board of directors. They advance recipients 50 per cent of the total funding agreed to and then once the project is finished and final reporting has been approved, they make a closing payment for the balance.
The DOV received $25,000 in the fall of 2013 for the Visitor Centre and Ferland Park and then received $5000 in the spring of 2014 for the Hotel Study. Since all were completed at the same time the district received the final payment all at once, a cheque in the amount of $23,579.
The entire balance funded by NKDF was $53,579 for all three projects. The entire amount spent by the district was $33,579 for the Vanderhoof Hotel Valuation Study and Visitor Centre Renovations and $98,112 for the Ferland Park washroom.