The Castlegar Chamber of Commerce is launching a community and corporate fundraiser this week, hoping to raise $1 million to $1.5 million to support the construction of its new building.
Executive director Tammy Verigin-Burk told city council this week that the campaign includes mailing a letter and brochures to households in the city and surrounding areas.
Lukas Armstrong of Cover Architects said the project could go to tend around the end of April for a general contractor, with demolition of the chamber’s existing headquarters and site development to begin around July 1.
The new building, to be known as The Confluence, could be completed by May 1, 2023. It would also be home to the West Kootenay Gateway Visitors Centre, Destination Castlegar, Community Futures, leasable co-working space, and a high-tech conference room sponsored by Mercer Celgar. It is expected to be used as a community space.
Armstrong said the proposed building has gone through “many iterations” over the last eight years as the chamber tried to balance its budget against what it wanted the building to include, but was helped along thanks to a provincial CleanBC grant.
“As a result of pursuing that grant, the building became better and better as we went along,” Armstrong told council. “To the point where the building is poised to become an example of exemplary approach to construction in energy efficiency, provincially, nationally, and globally.”
The building is expected to use mass timber manufactured locally from Kalesnikoff Lumber and, as a requirement of the Clean BC grant, to receive passive house certification, reducing the building’s energy use by 80 per cent or more.
“The combination of mass timber with certified passive house technologies is something that has not happened a lot,” Armstrong said. “In my research there’s potentially two or three other projects. We do expect this project to be an example of how to create sustainable projects locally.”
The overall budget is $5.1 million to $5.5 million of which the Chamber has secured $3.1 million and has a grant of $900,000 pending.
The Chamber opted to build new after engineers found foundation issues with their present office. However, Verigin-Burk says she has heard from some people interested in buying the building moving it.
“We’re looking into whether that is plausible. If it is, we’ll make sure there’s an opportunity for the community to relocate this building, if that’s what someone desires.”
If not, it is expected to be demolished this spring to make way for the new building. The City of Castlegar owns the property and has provided a 50-year lease.
Verigin-Burk said during construction the Chamber is looking at moving to an interim space. They are studying a couple of options including the Sandman Hotel.
