Sarah SimpsonSpecial to the chronicle
A busy 2016 will see the demolition of the old Chemainus firehall and subsequent design of a new Vancouver Island Regional Library branch at that site in the centre of town, according to North Cowichan mayor Jon Lefebure.
Another priority, he said, will be work on designing the new North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment slated for construction on Ford Road.
“That will be probably our biggest project in the history of North Cowichan,” Lefebure said. “At this stage we have an estimate of about $23 million, so it’s a big project. They are very particular about their design. It’s going to be an expensive building, I don’t think there’s any way around that.”
The final phase of the diking system running along the Trans Canada Highway will be completed soon, Lefebure predicted.
“The completion of the diking at the beginning of 2016 will be a big thing for us,” he said, noting the new dikes protect against 200-year floods but the unfinished portion only protects against 25-year flood levels.
That’s not all for capital projects, either.
“We have over $900,000 of work planned in Crofton to make improvements to their downtown core,” Lefebure noted. “That’s going to be exciting.” Included in that plan will be the construction of a new skate park on Chaplin Street, just approved in late December.
