Beautiful by design

Creating a sense of place and embracing its distinctive culture is bringing pride—and commerce—to Castlegar

Mayor Lawrence Chernoff said the sculpture walk has brought a sense of pride to Castlegar's downtown. — Tanya Laing Gahr

The strength of Castlegar lies in its distinct culture, according to Mayor Lawrence Chernoff.

“What you need to look at is something that’s unique to your community,” said Chernoff. “Culture is a huge industry right now—it’s one of the biggest industries around—and most people want to be educated about (that culture) . . . Castlegar has the Doukhobor culture, which is absolutely huge.”

Creating a sense of place is important to the City of Castlegar, said Chernoff. Two years ago, the new City Hall and Spirit Square were completed, giving the seat of municipal government—and the downtown core—an attractive facelift. The grounds are also home to several of the pieces being displayed as part of Castlegar’s sculpture walk.

“Times are hard now so we were asking what we could do to help the community,” said Chernoff. “When it came out, people were shocked, but if you have something different, it really attracts people to the community.”

The theme is continuing into the business community. Chernoff said that new operations are being encouraged to consider building designs that are attract