Nelson’s Regional Visitor Gateway Project moving ahead

Part of a Job Creation Partnership, the Nelson Visitor Gateway Project is giving employees valuable work experience.

by Keith Powell — June 25, 2015

Picture showing a run-down railway station with a sign detailing the restoration project the building is undergoing.

Part of a Job Creation Partnership, The Nelson Regional Visitor Gateway Project is turning Nelson's historic CRP Railway station into a state-of-the-art building, as well as giving valuable work experience to the workers involved in the project. — Photo courtesy Kootenay Business

By the time the Regional Visitor Gateway project wraps up in September 2015, the project will have given work experience to numerous job seekers. The innovative project is busy turning Nelson's historic CPR railway station into a state-of-the-art tourist centre and headquarters for the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce. The project has received $176,000 in government Job Creation Partnership funding.

The workers involved are getting experience in construction, carpentry and heritage restoration techniques on the structure, built in 1900, as well as safety orientation over the course of one year. The project is scheduled to finish in September 2015.

“Increasing the size and the visibility of the visitors centre will help all the tourism stakeholders in the community," said Tom Thomson of the Nelson Chamber of Commerce, in an earlier Kootenay Business interview. "There is always a spinoff to all the other businesses in Nelson—this is very positive. We feel that the centre will enhance our tourist component and in turn lead to visitors investing in the community."

The Nelson Gateway project, overall, has received more than $364,000 in funding and trained 10 other workers in two earlier stages of the project: more than $54,000 for the first stage and approximately $134,000 in the second stage.

Job Creation Partnerships are part of the Employment Program of BC’s Community and Employer Partnerships, which fund projects that increase employability and share labour market information.

Other partners in the project include Columbia Basin Trust, RDCK, Western Economic Development, Heritage Legacy Fund of BC, BC Heritage Branch, City of Nelson, Fairbank Architects, Traditional Timber Framing, Cornerstone Contracting and Edge Roofing.