A dozen grandchildren are excitedly looking forward to the newest addition coming to the Gibsons Public Market: a park and playground built in memory of their grandmother, Judi “Bubs” Libin.
The project will transform unused public land next to the market’s parking lot into a landscaped path with spaces to sit, and an interactive play centre, all thanks to a $1 million donation from the Libin family. The area will form two-thirds of a path that will eventually connect Gower Point Road to the waterfront, rather than pedestrians having to walk through the busy parking lot. Development in the area is expected to complete the final third over time.
Len Libin becomes emotional when he talks about his late wife. Len and Judi had three children Doran, Shayla and Joel and 12 grandchildren. Shortly after Judi's death from cancer 2021, her grandson Eli King fundraised more than $3,000 through his first-ever Terry Fox Run in her memory.
“Everyone considers their wife and mother and grandmother to be special. And, as far as we were concerned, that was truly the case with Judi. [She was] a special person. And to us this is a very special project, because it was one that she thought of quite a while ago.”
Before she passed, Judi reached out to Pam Robertson, the chair of the Gibsons Community Building Society (GCBS) board of directors, to share her vision for adding more family-friendly amenities to the Gibsons Public Market.
“Judi was the volunteer in our family and as a recent newcomer to Gibsons she was looking forward to becoming involved with Gibsons Public Market; while that was not to be, I am so pleased that Judi’s legacy will live on through the ‘Judi “Bubs” Libin Park and Play Centre,’” Len said in a press release.
Robertson first saw the design of the park while she was surrounded by 11 of the Libins’ grandchildren, and “was thrilled by their interest and engagement – I was particularly happy to answer ‘yes’ to the question of whether there would be diggers at the play centre!” She said the area will have plenty of stimulation and play options for youth, and she looks forward to growing the market’s community hub.
“They were very close to their grandmother,” Robertson said. “She was a big feature in their lives.”
The GCBS is “extremely grateful to Len and his family for their incredible generosity and to everyone helping to realize Judi’s vision for a park and play centre,” Robertson said.
The park will come to fruition with the help of another donor; Pat Campbell, a landscape architect with PMG Landscape Architects Ltd., who has donated her time and created the project’s design. It was also Campbell who suggested unused public land next to the market.
“I was touched to develop the concept for a children’s play centre in memory of a wife, mother and grandmother,” Campbell said. “Play is the important work of children and this project will provide a vital and much needed addition to the play environment in lower Gibsons – a playful walk, a destination for fun and a significant addition to the many amenities already offered to the community by Gibsons Public Market.”
Len sees the park as not just an amenity for the market, but to the Town of Gibsons as a whole. He’s touched by how well received the project has been.
Gibsons Mayor Silas White said council “is pleased to support a play centre that will be fun for everyone. Having spaces where children can play in our community provides for an important and essential part of a child’s emotional and physical development.”
The $1 million donation is the largest the Gibsons Community Building Society has received in its 10-year history. The funds will also help pay down residual construction-related debt from the 2017 expansion and renovation of the public market and to equip the Nicholas Sonntag Marine Education Centre’s catch-and-release aquarium.
“I hope this announcement will encourage others to consider contributing to Gibsons Public Market. Legacy giving is only one of many ways, all amounts are important and helpful,” Len Libin said.
