Our take: Visitors centre an investment in the community
Virtually anyone who has ever spent any amount of time exploring the Cowichan Valley after years of just passing through comes to the same conclusion.
There is way more here than what you can see, or even imagine, from the highway.
The key is getting them off the TCH.
And the regional visitors info centre proposed for the B.C. Forest Discovery Centre parking lot will be a great tool to help make that happen.
The centre will direct more traffic to the pastoral agro-tourism attractions of the south end, the funky maritime charms of Cowichan Bay, downtown Duncan, Transfer Beach, the Chemainus murals and the rugged hills and magnificent lake to the west.
The location is solid. The design is solid. The concept is solid. The value is solid. Most importantly, the support is solid, or at least it seems to be from every corner except the CVRD.
This community certainly does not need to spend more money. But even more critically, it does not need to waste money.
The scope of the return is impossible to quantify, but an investment in this centre is an investment that should see a return, and it comes at a cost of a few dollars per household.
And by not making that investment, the taxpayers are essentially waving goodbye to a $750,000 grant.
And that would be a waste.
The caution of many directors on this issue is reasonable, but perhaps it should be reviewed in this light: if your neighbour said he needed to get to an important meeting and was $3 short of the cab fare, most of you wouldn’t think twice.
This is similar, except there’s a good chance you might be able to join him for the ride.
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