The Castlegar Chamber of Commerce officially opened The Confluence on Friday, Aug. 23.
The 8,300-square-foot multi-purpose building brings economic development, tourism, and local business supports together under one roof.
The building was christened with two grand-opening events -- an afternoon ribbon cutting in front of about 250 people and an evening wine and cheese for about 200 people who were mostly chamber members or government officials and staff.
The building is one of only a few Passive House certified public buildings in Canada and will operate with 85-per-cent reduced emissions compared to regular construction methods.
Using local products and labour was a priority for the CDCOC. The building was designed by Nelson architects – Stand Architecture and Cover Architecture. It was constructed with mass timber supplied by Kalesnikoff Lumber and the general contractors were all West Kootenay based.
The Confluence hosts the Castlegar Chamber of Commerce, Destination Castlegar and the West Kootenay Gateway Visitors Centre. It also includes co-working spaces, a large collective space for community events or gatherings, a large boardroom, meeting spaces and offices that are available for rent and will be accessible for public use 24/7.
Most of the office spaces have been rented. MP Richard Cannings has taken one of the offices and the other renters include a notary and a financial manager.
Funding for the $8.7 million building has come from a variety of sources including more than $1.4 million from the federal government, $3 million from the province, $500,000 from Mercer Celgar for the high-tech board room and $200,000 from Destination BC. That is on top of generous donations from local businesses and residents, the Columbia Basin Trust and proceeds from Chamber of Commerce fundraisers.
There is still about $2 million left to raise to completely pay for the project. The CDCOC is offering a number of donation rewards for differing levels of support ranging from having your name placed on the wall to having a room named after you.
The CDCOC is a non-profit organization that operates independently from the City of Castlegar. However, the city owns the land the new building sits on but has leased the land to the Chamber of Commerce for 50 years with a further option to renew for another 50 years.
