City of Prince Rupert receives additional funding towards CN Waterfront project

NDIT has provided $300,000 in funding to the city's
CN Heritage building restoration plans 

The City of Prince Rupert has received some additional funding towards their redevelopment plans for the CN Waterfront property project, with Mayor Lee Brain announcing today that Northern Development Initiative Trust has allocated 300,000 dollars towards the restoration project.

Mr. Brain made use of his Civic focused Social media feed today to hail the contribution to the project which will see the Wheelhouse Brewing company relocate by year's end to a brand new facility for their operations in the city.

The Northern Development Initiative Trust contribution for the North Coast,  is one of eleven initiatives that they announced funding for today across the north, their focus for the Prince Rupert plans can be reviewed below:

$300,000 was approved through the Economic Infrastructure program for the City of Prince Rupert to restore the former CN Rail Station and make it available for commercial opportunities. The project will rehabilitate the 7,200 square foot building and is intended for a waterfront restaurant/brewery with patio. 

The location will provide a steady stream of foot traffic due to its proximity to the ferry terminal and is easily accessed by those touring around the downtown area. 

In addition to the cosmetic enhancements, the building revitalization will include major structural, electrical and mechanical upgrades.

The full information release can be reviewed here.

Comments from Mayor Brain were also part of today's roll out of funding by NDIT.

click to enlarge

The project which as noted will provide leasing space to the Wheelhouse Brewing Company is still in its early development stage, it's last estimated cost was to be around 5.3 million dollars, though that could rise as further detail cost estimates come in.

An August presentation from architects Boni-Maddison provided for a comprehensive review of the project, the August presentation was also the last full overview to date when it comes to the progress for the work ahead.

As Mayor Brain observes, the CN restoration project is one of the key elements of Council's 2030 vision plan and was one of the highlights towards December's review of Capital spending projects.

In November City council had noted that they were continuing to seek out additional funding from NDIT, with today's announcement making for success from their efforts for their target of  a  300,000 dollar contribution.

Some of our past notes on the development of the historic waterfront site can be reviewed from our 2030 Vision Plan archive page.