I don’t have any thoughts this week but I’ll try my best to come up with something worth reading.
I heard the North Island Gazette’s Readers’ Choice Awards was a pretty awesome experience where tons of people showed up to the North Island Mall to enjoy the festivities.
I wasn’t there myself due to it being my day off (I had big plans that day that involved sunshine, four wheels, a board, and some concrete) but it’s really cool when projects like this finally come together to help promote North Island businesses and the people who run them.
So what other big news is going on in the community?
The District Port Hardy finally got the grant funds they’ve been waiting for! $6,000,000 to be exact, which came from a Gas Tax Fund. For those that don’t know, a Gas Tax Fund is a federal grant given out to help build/renovate community infrastructures.
With that said, it appears we are playing the waiting game now to see what the multiplex project will officially end up looking like.
Me personally, I’d like to see a massive aquatic centre with state of the art technology, which unfortunately means a big price tag.
Can the District of Port Hardy cover 2/3 of the project as it stands? Not if you consider the price tag on the project has ballooned from $12,000,000 to $13,604,680 after receiving feedback from the community.
So what can the district do in this instance then?
My best guess is they will have to wait and see if they will be getting any extra funding, either provincially or elsewhere, otherwise they will just have to make cuts and go with a smaller multiplex with less features. Goodbye upstairs mezzanine, goodbye new skatepark, etc. etc.
Talk about a tough decision that Port Hardy Council will soon have to make. It makes me kind of glad that I’m not an elected official, because there is a good bit of taxpayer money at stake here, and property owners will be looking to get out what they are paying in to.
Hey, Thomas Kervin, any chance you want to write a “Multiplex Part Two” column?
Let’s put financials to the side for a moment and look into the future.
What do you think the multiplex should be named once it’s built? My dad suggested the “Hank Bood Aquatic Centre”, which does have a nice ring to it, but I doubt Mayor Bood would ever agree to something like that, it doesn’t really seem like his style. Bood’s a class act, and one of the last people to toot his own horn.
Is there anyone it could be dedicated to in memoriam?
If you have any ideas on what the multiplex should be named, please email them to me at editor@northislandgazette.com and I will publish them online and in print.
In any case, I’m excited for what’s coming up for my hometown. The sun’s starting to shine, it’s no longer raining cats and dogs, and I can hear the sound of summertime North Island adventures calling my name.