Manson’s Landing is named for Michael Manson, the original postmaster who worked at this location where the Cortes Island Post Office first opened in 1893.
This project is one outcome of a larger Village Commons Site Concept Plan, completed by the Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA) in 2021, which expressed a clear desire for a vibrant permanent outdoor gathering space where people can gather and partake in events and programs year-round.
The new timber-frame structure, built using local wood products and employing local craftspeople, would be the first (and only) public outdoor structure supporting outdoor gatherings anywhere on Cortes Island.
Located on 2.6 acres of commercially zoned vacant land, in the heart of Cortes Island’s largest community and commercial centre (Manson’s Landing), the Central Covered Pavilion will also support patrons of the nearby Vending Boardwalk and the year-round neighbouring Manson’s Hall Farmer’s Market.
The Village Commons aims to add to the sense of community and connection by providing much-needed additional commercial space for local entrepreneurs. The new Pavilion will provide value-added to local vendors with the expansion and revitalization of the Manson’s Landing core with this covered space.
Island Coastal Economic Trust approved funding for this project in 2022 through the Community Placemaking program.
We work in reciprocal relationships with coastal communities across the ancestral territories of the Kwak̓wala, Nuučaan̓uɫ, Éy7á7juuthem, Ligwilda'xw, Pəntl'áč, She shashishalhem, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Hul’q’umi’num’, diitiidʔaatx̣, SENĆOŦEN, Lekwungen, and T’Sou-ke speaking peoples.
