Several dozen donors and volunteers toured the interior of the future Gibsons Public Market on Oct. 15, seeing first-hand how the 5,500-sq.-ft. former yacht club building is being transformed into a 13,500-sq.-ft. community gathering space and marine education centre.
Market curator Rae Abbott served as guide for one of the groups touring the site. The tour was followed by an update on the project at the nearby home of Pam Robertson, president of the Gibsons Community Building Society, with Sunshine Coast resident and retired broadcaster Bill Good acting as guest host.
Fundraising for the project is 77 per cent complete, Robertson said, with about $800,000 left to raise. With federal and corporate funding expected, she said, “that leaves us with $350,000 we’re trying to raise on the Sunshine Coast.”
Gibsons Mayor Wayne Rowe noted “the last few steps can sometimes be the most challenging” and announced he was donating one-quarter of his mayor’s stipend – $5,000 – to the project. In his 35 years on the Coast, Rowe said, “with the exception of the fundraising for the CT scan at the hospital, I don’t think I’ve seen a project that’s been embraced by people all through the Coast such as the Gibsons Public Market.”
