After six months of construction work, Victoria’s Inner Harbour is ready to welcome visitors back to a revamped Ship Point pier.
The popular waterfront destination has been undergoing repairs since October, when work crews began replacing original timber piles from 1949 with new steel piles.
Some of the pier’s timber beams have also been replaced.
The $1.8-million project is set to be unveiled Saturday, May 11. The work was initially due for completion in April, but winter weather delayed some of the work at the site.
“Ship Point is an integral part of the Inner Harbour, providing a platform for dozens of community events, celebrations, and fundraisers each year,” said Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) CEO Ian Robertson in a news release Wednesday.
“We are pleased to have Ship Point back in service prior to the busy summer season in time for events such as the Victoria Cool Aid Society Homecoming Gala, Northwest Deuce Days, the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival, and weekend artisans’ marketplace.”
Salish Seas Industrial service won the contract for the project and has employed five full-time staff and local subcontractors at the site.
“Projects like this help the city maintain our assets and are smart long-term investments in popular tourist and event waterfront locations around our city,” said city engineering director Fraser Work.
“Partnering with the GVHA on this project helped get these important upgrades done quickly and in time for our busy tourist season here in Victoria.”
The harbour authority owns 65 per cent of the pier, with 35 per cent ownership belonging to the City of Victoria.
In 2017, a structural analysis of Ship Point determined that the pier needed critical repair work. A portion of the original pier was closed at that time.
“The harbour was once the transportation highway of our ancestors,” said Salish Sea Industrial Services director Karen Tunkara.
“It was our food basket, the heart of our share-economy and our sheltered village site. Returning to the harbour with our own enterprise to earn our livelihoods once again today as colleagues and equals feels very good indeed.”
