The City of Campbell River is taking steps to extend the Seawalk through the vacant downtown waterfront site, a move that would fully connect the shoreline pathway along a 12-kilometre stretch.
The city announced during budget deliberations in December that they would set aside money to begin work on the long-controversial 3.5-acre site by installing a waterfront walkway, and they are now able to kickstart that project thanks to the Rotary Club’s conditional offer to donate $100,000 to extend the Seawalk from Roberts Reach to the Discovery Harbour Shopping Centre.
The Rotary donation is subject to the project being fully funded, the city completing the design and beginning construction this year and the walkway fully connecting Roberts Reach to Discovery Harbour.
Because one of the conditions is that work would begin this year, city council has directed staff to prepare preliminary design options and pursue additional grant funding for a waterfront walkway along the 3.5-acres of city-owned vacant land.
“Completion of this section of walkway would connect the downtown core to Discovery Harbour and provide a continuous walkway from Maryland Road to the Tyee Spit via the Rotary Seawalk, sidewalks, Seagull Walkway and Ostler Park,” says Mayor Andy Adams. “This would enhance access to our waterfront and offer additional recreation and pedestrian opportunities to draw more people downtown. The city will continue to work in partnership with the Wei Wai Kum First Nation on this project, which would benefit everyone by providing smoother pedestrian access along their six acres of vacant land to connect to the shopping centre.”
“Establishing the walkway was a key recommendation of the city’s waterfront task force,” says city manager Deborah Sargent. “This is the first step in the development of this site.”
If funding is sufficient, the walkway design would match the standard of the existing Discovery Harbour waterfront walkway with a combination of paving stone edges, concrete slab centre area and intermittent paving stones inlaid along the route, with conduits installed for lighting.
The design could also include up to five metres of green space as a buffer.