Minister
of Community Development Blair Lekstrom announced on August
11, the allocation of $451,500 towards the restoration
of the Brilliant Suspension Bridge in Castlegar. He made
the announcement in front of more than 45 people at the
Brilliant Suspension Bridge site.
In
attendance were city and Regional District of Central
Kootenay (RDCK) members as well as members of the Doukhobour
community. Lekstrom said funding for the Brilliant Suspension
Bridge was drawn from Localmotion initiative project purse.
"Localmotion
provides local governments funding assistance for capital
projects that make communities greener, healthier and
more active and accessible place in which to live,"
read a statement from a government of B.C. website. Lekstrom
said the community has been working on getting the Brilliant
Suspension Bridge restored for many years.
"I
am honoured to deliver $451,500 to help with a project
that means a lot to the community," Lekstrum
said.
Lekstrum
said once the bridge has been restored it would form part
of the Canada Trail.
The
provincial government is promoting a healthy lifestyle
and for people to get out and lead a healthy lifestyle
it is only natural the government provide trails, and
restoration of the bridge does that, Lekstrum added.
"It's
huge," said RDCK area J director Gordon Zaitsoff
of the ministers announcement. "I'm really happy
to see (members) of the city of Castlegar here too."
Zaitsoff went on to say it was great to get the funding
as he and others from the community have worked hard to
get funding in place.
"We
will have a committee meeting in the next week to put
together a project team and restoration work should start
a couple of weeks after that," said Zaitsoff.
