Dear editor,
Re: Infrastructure dollars earmarked for Courtenay’s 6th Street bridge project could be better spent elsewhere
(April 20 Record) It saddens me to read a letter in the Record with such animosity directed at Courtenay council’s search for funding of a Sixth Street pedestrian crossing over the Courtenay River. I remember too well the horror that ran through the Valley when a travel magazine cautioned travelers to avoid Courtenay as it has become little more than a gauntlet of strip malls and big box stores.
At the time it seemed Comox Valley residents were shocked to read our community categorized this way and many stretched their imaginations to visualize our community in a more people-centred/graceful way. Many pointed to Simms Park and the Mile of Flowers as going some distance to refuting the distasteful judgment.
But the reaction was obviously fueled by fear that there might be too much truth to the assertion. I feel that a Sixth Street pedestrian bridge, done tastefully, could become emblematic of a different vision of Courtenay as a beautiful, graceful, people friendly community. If others share that vision and want to help fund it, hooray!
Norm Reynolds,
Courtenay