New Westminster is moving on up in Anvil Centre to showcase its future plans for the city.
Mayor Jonathan Cote and city council will be holding a meeting with various community groups in February on the top floor of the Anvil Centre office tower. Instead of having once-a-month, one-on-one meetings with various groups, Cote said the city decided to bring city and business leaders together at one time.
“It’s an opportune time, we feel, to number 1, showcase Anvil Centre to those that haven’t seen it and have a close look at what we are doing there,” Cote told The Record. “We also want to talk about the city’s waterfront vision, some of the developments, but in particular the city project of the Q2Q pedestrian bridge, and get the word out there that this is a major project that the city is going to be working on.”
The city has negotiated some casino funding to help build a pedestrian crossing from Queensborough to the Quay.
“We are going to get to the point where we are potentially going to be looking at some sponsorship opportunities and trying to raise funds for that, so it’s kind of laying the groundwork so people are aware and they can speak in their networks and word gets out about those opportunities,” he said of the meeting. “And also just to really get word out that people who are really involved in our city are aware of some of the big things that we want to be taking on and working on over the next four years.”
Cote said the city appreciates the owner of the office tower is willing to work with the city and allowing the space to be used for the meeting. He said the city was considering a location that had a view of the river, and staff suggested the office tower could be a unique locale for the invitation only event.
“We thought why don’t we get everyone together in the room,” Cote said. “Mayor and council will be there to present some of the things we want to be doing.”
