On the same day the trees arrived, marking the final stages of the Village of Valemount’s downtown revitalization, MLA for Prince-George-Valemount and Minister of Transportation Shirley Bond and local MP Cathy McLeod were in town to officially announce the completion of the project and announce the town’s sewer lift station enhancement.

“We are happy to be here today to celebrate the downtown revitalization project and also a new infrastructure project,” said Bond at the Valemount Council Chamber on Wednesday (Oct. 14). “We are announcing a project that I know is a priority for the Village of Valemount, and it has to do with a lift station that needs to be worked on, so I just want to congratulate the village for always being so forward thinking.”

The town’s sewer lift station enhancement project was funded one third by the federal government, one third from the provincial government and one third from the municipal government, a total of $55,000 each. MP McLeod said that the village has now got their infrastructure in place, and now the sewer lift enhancement project is just another piece in the puzzle to being a successful community.

Mayor Bob Smith jokingly compared the project to a house renovation, stating that they have put the first window in and that the lift stations are all aging, and the village would be back for more money. “We were going to put an extension on our house, that extension is that we are growing. We are going to outgrow what we have, and we will come again,” Smith said.

Meanwhile, outside the Chamber office, Fifth Ave. still looked like a construction zone, with no through traffic allowed as workers put some of the final touches on the revitalization.

Stonework on the edge of the sidewalk surrounding trees was being built, as about a dozen trees were delivered the same day to be planted.

While the trees didn’t have any leaves on them, they showed promise to residents and business owners that the end is near.

“Oh yeah, beautiful, I love it,” said Peter Felmark, a fifteen-year resident and owner of the Valemount Hotel.

“I really don’t think they could have done it at any better time. Because tourism was down (anyways),” he said. People thought they should have waited another month to start, but he said the summer was gone for them this year anyways.

“It was an inconvenience for everybody, but I don’t think people lost business. People always like to blame it (low tourism) on something.”

Felmark brought up the issue of parking while the main street was under construction, but he said people in town are just spoiled and complain if they can’t park in front of the grocery store. Tell them to go to Vancouver, he said, where you walk three blocks to go to the grocery store. “Some people are so spoiled up here, they are a bunch of complainers. No, I love every bit about it.”

Parking was also a concern for Janet Kunka, who had a bulldozer pushing dirt and trees around directly in front of her shop, Valemount Sporting & Clothing Ltd. on Wednesday.

Her concern though, is not with the vehicles, but snowmobiles. In the winter, she said, the snowmobilers come into town to the IGA and liquor store, and there was already a parking issue before.

“It’s a very popular block down there, right, and it just seemed like before it was kind of congested around there. So everybody is just going to have to get used to it,” she said. “I guess the sledders, they probably come more than once a winter. So the first time they come, it’ll be like, ‘holy man, what are we doing here this time, where are we going’ but then the next time they come they’ll know that they have to park somewhere else. So I think just through time it’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure it’s going to be really, really nice and beautiful and it’s going to be attractive,” she added.

During the revitalization completion announcement, Minister Bond also congratulated Dr. Ray Markham, who was awarded the Order of British Columbia in September.

Bond said there are outstanding British Columbians that live all across the province, and when they get the chance to give such a prestigious honour to someone outside of the lower mainland of BC, she is very proud of that.

“You have an extraordinary group of people that reflect who you are, and when you look at Order of BC, and what that means, the fact that we have someone in Valemount who is recognized is an extraordinary accomplishment, we’re very proud of you.”