Tourism Chilliwack hosted a forum last night at the Falls Golf Club to talk about plans for a new Bridal Falls Gondola project.  Jayson Faulkner, co-founder of the S2S project, made the presentation. Although the group working on this Fraser Valley project is the same team that put together the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish, these will not be ‘sister projects’.

The plan is ti make this the largest gondola and sightseeing project in Canada, covering 4200 hectares incorporating over 60 kms of developed trails and a 3 km lift with parking for over 1,000 vehicles. Viewing platforms of panoramic views with a paragliding park, ski tour areas as well as a Sto:lo Cultural Centre.

With a 40 million dollar investment, the construction alone would impact the economy with approx. 31 million dollars, providing 700 jobs during construction and 400 permanent jobs. By the third year, it is expected that there would be more than 500,000 visitors each year.

Although this has been in the planning stages for a few years, there is now an investigative permit in place. A master plan will be presented to the Province by October. Ideally, construction would start by next summer and be open for Summer 2021.

A website will be launching soon as a way to reach out to more members of the community and community groups for feedback.

 

Notes and Photo credit: Mike Hellinger

 

Filed under: Bridal Falls, Fraser Valley, Gondola, tourism