A $1.6 million meeting space is coming to serve the residents of the growing Meadowood area near Qualicum Beach. (Google Earth/NanaimoNewsNOW illustration)

By Ian Holmes

community amenity

Community hall approved for growing rural neighbourhood north of Qualicum Beach

Feb 4, 2021 | 5:31 AM

QUALICUM BEACH — A new community hall to serve the vast Meadowood neighbourhood is moving ahead following years of planning and delays.

Regional District of Nanaimo directors recently endorsed the project by hiring a contractor to build the facility for more than $1.6 million, involving a single-storey steel building featuring a sports court and commercial style kitchen.

Corcan-Meadowood residents association president Chris Burger called the project vitally important, pointing to a continual influx of young families calling the area home.

“It allows them to stay local in their own community, save a whole bunch of money on fuel and be able to access some of the programming that they are also paying into like all of us in the regional district.”

The hall will be located in the heart of the village core on RDN-owned land on Galvin Pl at Meadowood Way.

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It will also include a meeting room with small kitchenette, washroom and upper mezzanine.

The RDN expects meetings scheduled for this week will help determine the construction timeline.

Rising building costs and added features drove the cost of the project up, the RDN stated.

“We’ve been really caught in escalating costs over the years,” Burger said. “To see us actually complete this and get it to the point of construction is really a fantastic thing for the whole community.”

The local neighbourhood association worked for more than a decade toward establishing a community hall.

$2.2 million is set aside for the project in this year’s budget, which includes permitting fees and contingency fund.

More than 2,000 people live in the Meadowood neighbourhood surrounded by dense forest northwest of Qualicum Beach off Hwy. 19A.

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes