Project Investment:

• Island Coastal Economic Trust: $40,000
• Total Budget: $1,526,539

Project Highlight:

New amenities and infrastructure upgrades boost support for public events and local businesses through community-led vision

The City of Duncan is leading a large infrastructure project to transform an existing, underdeveloped, public space in the City’s downtown into a community gathering place. The comprehensive infrastructure upgrades include a stage area for outdoor events, covered seatings, pathways, public art, a water station, and wiring for food truck stalls, along with other amenities like a public washroom, street lighting, and landscaping.

The project is supported through the Island Coastal Economic Trust’s Community Placemaking Program with its focus on Entrepreneurs and Local Businesses.

Community Wellbeing

The project weaves together much needed community amenities to continue to revitalize the City of Duncan’s downtown. The results will create positive community wellbeing impacts, including:

Economic Prosperity: The Station Street Placemaking Project will revitalize an underdeveloped space in the heart of downtown Duncan, increasing visitation and encouraging longer stays. This will help support more than 250 businesses that currently operate in the area and unlock opportunities for new businesses.

Social Empowerment: New roles to support events and markets taking place, along with new work positions at the surrounding businesses, will create employment opportunities linked to this initiative. It’s estimated that up to 18 part-time and seasonal jobs will be created for market and food truck vendors, seasonal performers, event coordinators, and consultants.

The project will also offer opportunities for young and emerging entrepreneurs to launch businesses without some of the traditional costs associated with a brick-and-mortar store.

During construction, the project is anticipated to create 15 temporary full-time jobs.

Cultural Vitality: The City of Duncan’s priority is to create a welcoming and inclusive place with a strong identity that draws residents and visitors to the space. The new venue will provide opportunities to expand the Duncan Farmers’ Market, 39 Days of July Festival, Christmas Light Up, and Duncan Pride Festival. It will also empower new cultural events and festivals to take place within the community.

Totem poles at the current site will be relocated to amplify their visibility, with new public art and multilingual signage planned to recognize and celebrate our community’s diverse heritage.

Environmental Sustainability: With this project, the City of Duncan aims to set a precedent for environmental sustainability by ensuring the location is suitable for a variety of uses year-round. The design uses intensive landscaping and tree canopy cover to reduce the urban heat island effect, and bioswales to support extreme rain events. Rain gardens, native pollinator-friendly plant species, and tree canopy cover will contribute to the area’s climate resiliency.

Bicycle parking, widened pathways, and improved through-park connections encourage active transportation.

What Leaders are Saying:

The Station Street Placemaking Project represents a significant investment by the City to create an inclusive and accessible community heart with the necessary infrastructure to support the expansion of local and regional events. – Larissa Barry-Thibodeau, City Planner, Project Manager, City of Duncan

“We are grateful to partner and co-invest with the City of Duncan on this initiative that blends community-led design with revitalization of the downtown in an inclusive way. We look forward to seeing this new public space once it’s completed, especially the new events and opportunities it unlocks for local people and visitors to the community.” – Brodie Guy, CEO, Island Coastal Economic Trust

Media Contacts:

 Jeff Bartlett
Communications and Impact Manager
Island Coastal Economic Trust
250-871-7797
jeff@islandcoastaltrust.ca

Larissa Barry-Thibodeau
City Planner
City of Duncan
250-746-6126 Ext. 31
larissa@duncan.ca