The Skills Centre is achieving a dream it’s had for many years, and the community is going to be the benefactor. The Skills Centre has bought the buildings at the corner of Eldorado and Esplanade in downtown Trail. We are creating a community space that will be accessible, inviting and welcoming.
Our new building will be your new building
The buildings will house our Skills Centre offices as well as provide space for partners to have offices and room for programs such as Community Kitchens in the new commercial kitchen. Our vision for the redevelopment of the buildings will secure them as a valuable, accessible and inclusive community asset.
Exciting times are ahead for downtown Trail! Renovations are going great and will finish in late spring 2024.
You can be a part of the Skills Centre’s effort to create a building for the community. To make a donation to the building fund, go directly to our donation page.
The greenest building in Trail
The plan for the near future is to renovate the office building, transforming a two-storey, 9,000 square foot building into a state of the art space for the delivery of a variety of different community programs. Working with local builders and engineers, the Skills Centre has developed a plan for the renovation of the building which will result in the greenest building in Trail and one of the most inclusive and accessible.
Check back here to follow the progress as we undertake extensive renovations and improvements to the building.
The building will support a wide range of community-focused programming from poverty reduction programming to economic development activities.
The renovation will showcase the future of sustainable buildings and building design in a region that is already known for its industrial engineering prowess.
Ongoing Work
If you’ve been to downtown Trail recently, you’ll have seen that work on the biggest construction project in the city is well underway. Yes, the renovation of our new building is in full swing! We’ve got the best people hard at work on the eco-renovation. This is huge for our community! Follow along here as we provide updates.
Work continues on:
- Removing hazardous materials from the inside & outside of the building
- Gutting the inside & framing the new offices
- Installing new windows, doors, insulation & stucco
- These retrofits will reduce the building’s greenhouse gas emissions & energy demand by more than 50%
Renovations will continue through spring 2024. Thanks to Kathryn Gardner for her excellent photography skills that document the renovations.
A huge investment in downtown Trail
The most important impact that the building will have is the ability to have properly supported community programming in a state of the art accessible, sustainable, warm and welcoming building steps from public transit and other community assets including city hall and the public library.
Funding partners include Infrastructure Canada, ESDC, the Trottier Family Foundation, the Peter Gilgan Foundation and the Kootenay Savings Community Foundation.
If you would like a presentation to your group about our plans to make the new building an accessible, environmentally sustainable community hub, contact us today.
With big thanks to our funding partners
A project of this scale needs many partners to make it a reality. We thank all of our funding partners, including the Government of Canada. On February 9, Infrastructure Canada announced more than $2.39 million for our building renovations from the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program.
“Investments in green and inclusive community buildings are vital to reaching our emissions goals and building a brighter future for Canadians. The funding announced today will create a more sustainable Skills Centre for the City of Trail and facilitate essential community programming for years to come. The Government of Canada will continue working with our partners to foster more sustainable, resilient, and vibrant communities across the country.”
The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, on behalf of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities
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“The skills and insights that I gained has positively changed every aspect of my life and reshaped my future. The kind, compassionate and knowledgeable facilitators created a safe, pleasant, and supportive environment to discover the kind of future that I have always dreamed about, but not had the skills nor confidence to pursue.”
Funding for our programs comes from multiple provincial and federal sources, including:
- Ministry of Post Secondary Education and Future Skills and the Government of Canada through the Canada-British Columbia Workforce Development Agreement
- The Government of Canada’s Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities
- The Government of Canada’s Skills for Success Program
- The Government of Canada’s Social Development Partnerships Program
