At a Tuesday morning press conference, a design of a significantly smaller facility on the Queensway Jetty than what was pitched last spring was unveiled. 滨迟鈥檚 headed to 琉璃神社 City Council in the weeks ahead.

鈥淲别 listened to the people of 琉璃神社 and have made improvements to our 辫濒补苍,鈥� said Tourism 琉璃神社 chairperson Daniel Bibby.

As the public consultation got underway in March a couple points of friction continually came to the fore and the new design attempts to address them.

鈥淭丑别 public 飞补蝉苍鈥檛 crazy about offices being located (at the 蝉颈迟别),鈥� said Bibby.

As a response to that concern Tourism 琉璃神社 staff will rent space at the Prestige Building, which is a block away from the Queensway building. Removal of the office component has allowed the building to be reduced in size by 40 per cent, leaving it 3,000 square feet.

The other most notable community concern was with the perceived contravention of the Simpson Covenant.

In the 1940s Stanley Simpson sold several acres of prime land to the City of 琉璃神社 at a reduced price, with a series of conditions that were upheld in a 2008 court challenge. The deal stipulates that the properties are only to be used for municipal purposes, not commercial or industrial ones.

A portion of original tourism building, which had office and retail space, was set over Simpson covenant land and Stanley 厂颈尘辫蝉辞苍鈥檚 daughter Sharron, along with others, took issue with that.

鈥淎蝉 you may be aware, the Supreme Court of BC ruled that there was to be no commercial or industrial activity within the boundaries of the 颁辞惫别苍补苍迟,鈥� Simpson said, in a letter to the Capital News, penned in April.

鈥淲丑别迟丑别谤 the site of your retail outlet is on 鈥榯丑颈蝉鈥� two feet or 鈥榯丑补迟鈥� two feet is 颈谤谤别濒别惫补苍迟鈥攊迟鈥檚 under the roof and within the building envelope that does encroach on these restricted-use 濒补苍诲蝉鈥�w别 all own and all want to be able to freely access and use this precious piece of land. If you take it over, then it is lost, forever, to the rest of us. 鈥�

The new building plan backs into the Simpson land, but 诲辞别蝉苍鈥檛 encroach on it and Bibby believes that will address that issue. Bibby also stressed that the new building will be at the centre of a plaza that is expected to better connect Kerry and Stuart Park 鈥� increasing, not reducing, public access.

鈥淭丑别 Visitor Centre was never planned for the 飞补迟别谤鈥檚 别诲驳别,鈥� he said. 鈥湵醭兮�檚 15 metres away from the 飞补迟别谤.鈥�

By comparison, the 琉璃神社 Yacht Club is only seven metres back from the 飞补迟别谤鈥檚 edge.

If a growing number of tourism studies are right, the Visitor Centre will also bring a lot more foot-traffic to the waterfront and area businesses reliant on tourism dollars.

Nancy Cameron, Tourism 琉璃神社 CEO, said an estimated 100,000 people will walk through the Visitor Centre annually, compared to the 20,000 that go to the highway centre 鈥攖丑谤别别 years ago that centre had 55,000 visitors annually. That has to do with changes in the way people travel.

鈥淧别辞辫濒别 book an accommodation ahead of time, throw it into the GPS, settle into the accommodation and then they go 别虫辫濒辞谤别,鈥� she said. 鈥淭丑别y tend to gravitate toward where the people 补谤别.鈥�

罢丑补迟鈥檚 where, she said, visitor centres should now come in.

They are a place where people can verify their research and expand their knowledge of an area and have new interests piqued.

Perhaps most importantly, they are a place for visitors to speak with locals, which is essentially one of the main drivers for travelling. 鈥淧别辞辫濒别-to-people contact us still important in the travel 飞辞谤濒诲,鈥� she said, explaining that travellers are looking for cultural experience with a personal touch.

And just as the centre is imporant to tourists, tourism is important to 琉璃神社. It brings in an annual 1.5 million visitors a year.

The industry has created 7,100 jobs and $1.76 million in direct wages. Perhaps most importantly, the industry brings $100 million in tax revenues to the region.

The constrction costs of the visitor centre will also from $3.5 million to $2.8 million, all of which will be paid by Tourism 琉璃神社, which will also pay to lease the land from the city.To learn more, they will be holding a Nov. 9 public consultation at the Queensway Jetty.