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- As Lytton rebuilds, village plots new pool & village hall
As Lytton rebuilds, village plots new pool & village hall
With building underway on more than a dozens homes in fire-struck village, officials and residents are sketching out plans for a new community hub and village hall
A proposed new community hub in Lytton would have meeting rooms and facilities inside, and a covered community gathering area outside. đˇ Village of Lytton
This story first appeared in the January 28, 2025, edition of the Fraser Valley Current newsletter. Subscribe for free to get Fraser Valley news in your email every weekday morning.
As post-fire Lytton slowly begins to take shape, the municipality is plotting two major construction projects at the heart of the village.
With more than two-dozen building permits issued in the village core last year and new homes springing up on a regular basis, residents are finally returning both to the community, and officials are beginning to plan the reconstruction of two key government buildings.
This week, Lytton residents will be able to provide their input into a planned $26 million âcommunity hubâ building that could feature a pool, among other amenities. The municipality is also finalizing plans for a new village hall that could bring one of the first retail spaces back to Lyttonâs core.
Planning for Lyttonâs new community hub is still in the early stages. It is meant to replace Lyttonâs visitor centre, museum and pool buildings that burned in the 2021 fire that razed the village.
The building is intended to serve not only village residents, but also the thousands living in the surrounding area. The concept planâwhich will be presented to residents for their thoughts on Thursday, Jan. 30âenvisions a building with a multipurpose room, a small library and museum, a covered area for festivals and performances, and a small outdoor pool. (Lytton residents can also share their thoughts via an online survey.)
The hub will be built with insurance proceeds and a large grant from the federal government that was pledged in the wake of the fire.
The federal cash came with a variety of strings. The building had to have multiple purposes, be fire resilient, have net-zero emissions, and be a single structure, Lytton Mayor Denise OâConnor told The Current.
(The village has been promised $64 million for municipal buildings, but must apply for each projects through a specific green building program.)
OâConnor said she hopes the new hub will provide âsomething for everybody and be something that will hopefully attract other people to come to Lytton and move to Lytton,â she said. The aim is to provide flexible spaces that the community can then use as they see fit.
âWeâre hoping for a multi-purpose space that somebody could come and offer karate classes or dance classes, or rent for a birthday party or those types of things,â she said.
A preliminary blueprint for a proposed new community hub in Lytton envisions community spaces, a pool, and external gathering spaces. đˇ Village of Lytton
Like everything else in Lytton, the hub project comes with a level of uncertainty specific to the only modern BC municipality to entirely destroyed by fire.
Most new municipal buildings are constructed in established, stable communities and run by governments with predictable revenue streams and sources. Any project in Lytton is inevitably different. Although signs of rebuilding are everywhere, there is still uncertainty over just what the village will look like in the future, how many residents it will have, and how long it will take to regain its previous vibrancy. So every project currently requires an âif you build it, they will comeâ approach.
Although the facility will be built with money from grants and insurance, operating it on a year-to-year basis will require a mix of pragmatism, planning, and faith in the communityâs future.
OâConnor said she hopes that a combination of leases, small rental fees, and partnerships with other governments can help support the new facility.
The previous library was operated by the Thompson Nicola Regional District and OâConnor hopes the TNRD will help operate and fund a new facility. Local organizations would be expected to use and rent community spaces.
âWe have to work through what we can do together to make sure that this is successful and sustainable,â she said.
The buildingâs energy efficient designâa prerequisite for the federal moneyâcould potentially keep heating and other operating costs to a minimum. Pools come with particularly high maintenance costs, however, and preliminary plans envision a canopy with covered solar panels for the pool.
The new municipal hall
The community hub isnât the only major building project on tap in Lytton. The village is also planning to finally build itself a permanent municipal hall at the centre of town.
The tidy facade and modest clocktower of the villageâs former one-storey office dominated a prominent corner at the centre of the communityâs tiny downtown.
The destruction of the town, including the municipalityâs offices, posed a major obstacle to subsequent rebuilding efforts. As The Current has reported, the blaze destroyed critical documents and made it all but impossible for the village to function as a municipality at the moment it needed internal leadership the most. In recent years, village staff have been working out of a temporary office for the last couple years, while council has been meeting at a church hall that miraculously survived the blaze.
The village has now sketched out plans to rebuild its offices, while adding a commercial storefront that could provide ongoing rental revenue for the municipality.
Construction began on a new Legion building in late 2024. đˇ Tyler Olsen
Lytton leased its former property from the TNRD on a rent-to-own basis. It has now arranged to buy the land for $50,000 using money received from Atco, a trailer manufacturer that filmed a controversial promotional video in the village less than a year after the fire. OâConnor said the village will also receive money from the TNRD in compensation for previously paid rent and proceeds from fire-related insurance.
Only preliminary plans have been sketched out so far, but the building would include a reception area, offices for village staff and council, and a room that could host council meetings. The plans include a new clocktower on the building.
The village has pegged the cost for the building at $1.5 million, although that is before any energy efficiency upgrades needed to access federal funding grants.
In addition to the hub and village office, the village is also planning the construction of a new fire hall and public works building, along with repairs and upgrades to the municipalityâs sewer and water systems.
Construction has begun on more than a dozen homes in Lytton, with several
Homes begin to rise
The two projects come amid growing momentum for rebuilding. Last year marked the start of widespread construction efforts in the village core, nearly three years after the fire.
Last year, building permits were issued for 17 homes. An additional nine permits were granted to builders of commercial and industrial buildings. A dozen projects also received their final occupancy permits. Even more homes are going up on the Lytton First Nation reserve immediately north of the village core.
On Monday, the First Nation broke ground on its Nzenâmanâ Birdâs Nest Centre, an $8.5 million building with educational, social and cultural components, including a daycare and gathering places of its own.
At the start of 2024, the village had aimed to have 10 occupied homes by the end of the year. That figure stood at five by December, according to a new report to council. But the number of building permits that have been issued suggests the number will quickly creep into double-digits. A month into January and the village site is a busy place, with construction activity at multiple homes, and several residences nearing completion. The village has set itself an ambitious goal of having 40 homes occupied by the end of this year. That may be a difficult target to hit, but
OâConnor said she sees a large difference in Lytton today, compared to a year ago, and is feeling more optimistic about the future.
âI think itâs the visuals that are happeningâthe residential buildings are going up and I think thatâs really provided a lot of positive feelings,â she said. The village has not yet seen core commercial services return to its downtown, but that is likely on the way. The village issued a building permit for the rebuilding of the townâs grocery store last summer, and OâConnor said she expects ground to be broken soon.
đˇ Tyler Olsen
This story has been updated to include reference to the Nzenâmanâ Birdâs Nest Centre.
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