Brian Lee
For some reason, we like to entertain ourselves by asking fantasy questions:
What would you do if you won the lottery?
If you could marry a Spice Girl, which would it be?
Here, we also fantasize about what it would take to make our community economically self-sustaining:
What single entity could deliver year-round employment and reverse our schools’ declining enrollment?
A penitentiary?
A tram up to the Caren Range, like the one Squamish recently built?
Maybe large-scale marijuana facilities or the headquarters of a tech company?
As with the lottery question, everyone has a different answer when it comes to what that shot of economic Viagra might be.
Until now.
The riddle has been solved with the Ruby Lake Lagoon Society’s PODS marine research station. Work is underway to secure the Irvines Landing marina property. Now a derelict site, it was once the centre of commerce for a fledgling community. But even now, 100 years later, our community is still struggling to find its way. Despite an uptick in a real estate economy and the frenetic pace of the summer season, many businesses still can’t cut it through the winter. A local cafe recently announced it will shutter four days a week because of anemic winter sales.
Pender Harbour and Egmont seem to lack the momentum to spark a transition from seasonal economies. The proposed Pender Ocean Discovery Station will change that with a world class pull for students and visitors.
And with jobs. PODs will require administrators, biologists, groundskeepers, lab technicians, cleaners, servers and cooks. Someone will maintain a fleet of boats, others may be hired to operate them. The $10 million or more in construction costs alone will help fill schools and empty seats in winter coffee shops, and PODS is projected to be profitable by year three.
It will also put this area at the forefront of marine research to interpret some of the changes taking place in our ocean. If nothing else, a few more smart people in town could provide a welcome boost to the local gene pool.
But to appreciate how thoroughly PODS will impact this community is to understand how it will become the symbol and brand of Pender Harbour. Not only will PODS provide a visual first impression for visitors arriving to Pender Harbour by boat, it will provide continued media exposure to the rest of the world. It will be what we are known for.
Site and business plans are in place, and support has come from a long list of influential people that includes the lieutenant-governor of BC. So, it’s time to stop asking fantasy questions about what our Hail Mary might be and recognize that it’s here now, and we need to catch it. As one local shopkeeper interviewed in the “PODS Away” video said, “It’s a game-changer.” When PODS opens in 2020, imagine your family’s pride in finding their name listed with others who contributed to its necessary first step — the purchase of the land on which it sits.
Comments