The Town of Gibsons has signed on as a key partner in the second phase of the Armours Beach improvement project.
During its Feb. 15 committee of the whole, council members received a delegation from Aleria Ladwig of the Gibsons Rotary Club, asking for support for the Phase 2 project and to consider becoming a key partner in efforts to raise awareness about the plan.
This week, during Gibsons March 4 regular meeting, council voted to become a key partner of the project.
At the Feb. 15 meeting, Ladwig explained Phase 1 took place in 2018, which involved adding a washroom, accessible pathway landscaping and picnic tables in collaboration with the Town.
Ladwig said past developments in the area focused on the hillside or the shore and that the marine side “is definitely needing some improvements as well.”
Given the docks are usually packed in the summer, the Rotary Club is looking to add additional floats to the area using environmentally safe materials.
Ladwig said the proposal was shown to the Elphinstone Secondary Interact Club, who were enthusiastically supportive of the additions.
Ladwig said some additional design elements include a small slide, a diving board, a storage rack for kayaks or paddleboards, and “breaking the muddy shoreline area and having some sand imported for a little beach area right along the shoreline.”
Community benefits from the improvements include a sheltered safe space “for mom and tots to swim,” a healthy active summertime space for teenagers and easy marine access for adults and seniors to launch paddleboards and kayaks.
High-density polyethylene pontoon construction is proposed to protect the environmentally sensitive ecosystems surrounding the area.
Ladwig said shading is not a concern with their design and that eco-mooring lines would be used to hold the docks and reduce benthic scouring.
Armours Beach has seen much improvement over the last decade. In 2018, terracing was done to the area and a new washroom facility was built by the Town.
In 2019, the swim area was defined and marked by the addition of vertical piling and log booms. Later that fall, the foreshore was reinforced and the staircase to the beach was rebuilt.
The Rotary Club also assisted the Town in adding an automated external defibrillator (AED) to the washroom at the beach.
Coun. David Croal noted the area is “one of the few areas that is relatively protected during the summer months to afford sort of a safe swimming opportunity,” and asked if the Rotary Club was looking to replace the old pontoon floats or add the new ones, which Ladwig said will depend on the level of funding they receive.
She did not specify how much funding the Rotary Club is seeking.
When the topic was presented in their regular meeting, the motion was adopted without discussion.
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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