The new structure, located on the municipal wharf, will serve as a ferry shelter for high school students, commuters, locals and tourists alike. It will also be a bandstand for Steamship Days Festival, a bar or ticket booth for the Dock Dance and act as an info and welcome centre as it will house maps of popular Bowen Island sites and trails and information on commercial centres and local businesses.
“Dick was a member of the original Bowen Island Credit Union Board and contributed many hours and immeasurable positive energy and guidance into the branch in the formative years”, shares Manning, “this type of community hub is an ideal way to honour the memory of him.”
“On behalf of First Credit Union, I wish to thank the volunteers and the Bowen Building Centre for their kind support of this project,” says Manning. Among the volunteers were Alec Pelzer of Valek Fine Homes, Andy Rainsley of Bowenshire Stoneworks and Landscaping and Dave Atkinson of Kore Residential.
Funds for the project were donated to the community by First Credit Union in 2013 when the Bowen Island membership of First Credit Union voted to eliminate the unique to Bowen E-shares and switch from the Community Partnership Branch model to being a standard branch under the First Group of Companies umbrella.
Construction of the Dick Van Aelst Memorial Welcome Gazebo commenced April 18th and is scheduled to be complete by May 15th, 2015.
