The City of Port Alberni’s parks, recreation and heritage department has been successful in receiving several grants and are continuing to work towards obtaining more.
Theresa Kingston, director of community services with the city, told council at a Feb. 14 meeting that the department was successful in obtaining a $1,000 Family Day grant from the provincial government.
“The events on [Family Day] were very heavily subscribed to,” Kingston said. “We had more than 225 people at the museum event, the pool was at capacity and we had to turn people away, 100 people rollerskating and we’re still awaiting to see numbers for the multiplex. It’s nice that the provincial government help offset some of our costs for that.”
The Alberni Valley Museum was successful in getting a $65,000 BC Arts Council operating grant which Kingston said is thanks to the “hard work and grant writing skills of the museum director.”
“We’ve also applied for the Canada Summer Jobs program, we have an application in for the Canada Summer Works program and we have an application into Island Health Community Wellness grant for an indoor walking program at the multiplex,” Kingston said.
In addition, Kingston said department staff are working on a grant proposal in conjunction with the Kiwanis Club for Canal Beach upgrades.
“Kiwanis have come on board as selecting Canal Beach as their project of choice in the community so we are working on a number of exciting initiatives down there, some that will happen this summer and some that will be a longer term,” Kingston said.
She said the grant they are applying for could see a picnic shelter at the beach. Kingston also mentioned that Kiwanis may be looking into changing the name from Canal Beach to Canal Waterfront Park but that a name change would have to be done officially through council.
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