Tourism Dependent Communities Fund grants $700k for upgrades to Squamish Adventure Centre

The Squamish Adventure Centre is getting an injection of provincial funding in the amount of $700,000 through the Tourism Dependent Communities Fund  (TDCF) for the revitalization of the 15-year-old facility. The revitalization project, which will be fully funded by the provincial grant, recognizes and aims to build on the important role tourism plays in Squamish’s local economy.

"Tourism Squamish is proud to have called the Squamish Adventure Centre home for the past 15 years," says Tourism Squamish Executive Director Lesley Weeks. "The signature building will benefit from upgrades to enhance its performance as a tourism centre and to increase its operational efficiency. We are excited by the opportunity to work with other key stakeholders to revitalize this amazing community building."

A task force comprised of representatives from Tourism Squamish, the Squamish Chamber of Commerce and District of Squamish staff has been established to guide the project beginning with a visioning process, guided by a set of eleven principles endorsed by Council in November 2020. The principles include the desire to support longer visitor stays and repeat visitation, achievement of cost-neutrality or profit through its operations, energy efficiency, participation from Squamish Nation, and showcasing the ‘Wood First’ aspect of the building. Following the visioning process, which will include community engagement, design and upgrades to the centre will begin. Work must begin by December 31, 2021 and be completed on or before March 31, 2023.

"This project is a great opportunity for the District to work with local organizations to enhance this iconic tourism building and benefit our local visitor economy,” says District of Squamish Acting Mayor Doug Race. "We look forward to working collaboratively with members of the Tourism Squamish, the Squamish Chamber of Commerce and tourism stakeholders to re-envision and revitalize this valuable tourism asset and community anchor, and we wish to thank the Province for this funding that will make this project possible."

Built in 2006 as a purpose-built visitor centre, the fifteen-year-old facility would benefit from upgrades to serve Squamish’s tourism economy. The project’s guiding principles will form the basis of considerations for any upgrades and will guide the visioning process and may include retrofitting the building to maximize energy efficiency, reduce emissions and minimize associated environmental impacts.

"The Squamish Chamber is excited to work with the District of Squamish and Tourism Squamish on revitalizing the Squamish Adventure Centre," says Squamish Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Louise Walker. "Pre-pandemic, the Squamish tourism sector supported nearly 800 jobs, and so we are extremely grateful to the Province of B.C. for providing funding, which will ultimately help our tourism sector come out of the pandemic stronger than before."

A District of Squamish-owned facility, with visitor services delivered by Tourism Squamish as the operating organization, the SAC welcomed 200K visitors through its doors in 2019. 

The TDCF was established to assist tourism dependent communities create jobs and support economic development and recovery from the impacts of COVID‐19 by developing and growing tourism sub‐sector markets through investments in critical tourism infrastructure.