The Skills Centre is achieving a dream it’s had for many years, and the community is the benefactor. The Skills Centre has bought and renovated the buildings at the corner of Eldorado and Esplanade in downtown Trail. We have created a community space that is accessible, inviting and welcoming.
Our new building is for you
We are open! The Skills Centre offices are in our new building! And we’ve welcomed some community partners who also have offices in our building. The building is now one of the most accessible, inclusive, sustainable and energy efficient commercial buildings in the city. Drop by for a visit!
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
We have transformed a two-storey, 9,000 square foot building into a state of the art space for the delivery of a variety of community programs. Working with local builders and engineers, the Skills Centre has renovated the building into the greenest building in Trail and one of the most inclusive and accessible.
- The 50KW solar power array is already producing more power than we’re using many days.
- We’ve removed natural gas from the building and replaced it with renewable energy sources.
- We’re reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and our energy demands by more than 50%.
The building now supports a wide range of community-focused programming from poverty reduction to economic development activities.
The renovation showcases the future of sustainable buildings and building design in a region that is already known for its industrial engineering prowess.
Highlights: start to finish
1060 Eldorado St in Trail has had many lives. During WWII, when Consolidated Mining & Steel was making heavy water in Trail for the Manhattan Project, it was an armoury, with cement floors thick enough to support a tank.
Parts of the complex – it is two buildings on one title – have also been engineering offices, union offices, a bingo hall and space to house a variety of non-profits and union locals.
Underneath the layers of old plaster and ceiling tiles and flooring was a building with good bones. In fact, the building was in better shape than we expected. We uncovered old hardwood, used to build the original structure, that was still in fantastic condition. We reused this old wood in the renovation.
See the progress from construction through to our grand opening in October!
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, Columbia Basin Trust, Teck, Etsi BC, Small Business BC, Fortis, Kootenay Savings Community Foundation, and individuals through Canada Helps.
The community kitchen is another key feature of the new building. We now have a place to offer our Community Kitchens program as well as other food security and poverty reduction activities with our partner organizations.
As any aspiring chef knows, a well-equipped kitchen is a necessary ingredient, and we’ve had many people and organizations come forward to help us outfit the community kitchen, including the LeRoi Foundation and Società Mutuo Soccorso Italo Canadese.
You can help us set up our kitchen through our gift registry. Your purchase will even be eligible for a charitable donation tax receipt.
Sharing what we've done
Our building eco-renovation was the largest construction project in downtown Trail. It took over 14 months spanning 2023 and 2024. Part of our goal with this project was to invest in our local community, work with the businesses in our area, and offer educational opportunities to people in the trades to show how a sustainable renovation is possible.
We created a series of videos that showcase the construction process and highlight some of the local businesses we worked with on the renovation. We’re proud of this project, while at the same time, as our executive director, Morag Carter, says in one of the videos, it’s not that special: anyone can make their building more sustainable and environmentally resilient.
We had a vision for this building. We are proud of what we achieved. It is the collective participation of our partners in the renovation and the organizations who are sharing the space with us that makes the investment worthwhile and will determine how successful and important a community asset it will be.
Click through the videos below to follow along on our journey.
Eco-renovation videos
Inquire today
“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
