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Banners hoped to bring business to Parksville’s Orange Bridge District

Area of Island Highway to get new splash of colour
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This artist rendering by Robert Held was made to show what a banner could look like for the Orange Bridge Business District. - Submitted by Kim Burden

New banners designed by Robert Held will soon grace the streets of Parksville.

Specifically, the section of the Island Highway starting at the Orange Bridge that crosses the Englishman River, and ending at McVickers street.

What’s there, you ask?

Why, the Orange Bridge Business District, and that’s exactly what the banners will proclaim.

READ MORE: Councillor lobbies for Orange Bridge repainting

The City of Parksville voted to approve the installation of banners after Coun. Teresa Patterson put forward a motion at a City of Parksville regular council meeting on Sept. 4.

There was some discussion by councillors as to whether or not banners going up in the city should be unified under a common theme, or emblem. Ultimately, the motion passed without any requirements of that nature.

Kim Burden, executive director of the Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce says the idea sprang up from a meeting with business owners in that area last year.

“One of the things they wanted was exposure, beautification, distinction. So we got together with several of the retailers of that region to start to talk about that a little more in depth,” said Burden.

READ MORE: Banners could add pop of colour to Parksville business district

“What they came up with was putting up some street banners to define the region, to draw attention to that region, in hopes that people would start to explore that area a little bit more and learn what’s there in terms of retail business.”

Burden says the banners have been ordered, and should go up sometime before the middle of October.

He added that another desire of the Chamber’s is to have the orange bridge repainted. Burden says that’s a provincial matter, and that the City has worked on lobbying the provincial government for that in the past.

emily.vance@pqbnews.com

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