B.C. local governments win wood awards

VANCOUVER – Six local governments in British Columbia won Wood WORKS! BC Community Recognition Awards at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), held Sept. 27 in Vancouver.

The Lower Mainland Local Government Association won four awards, with Metro Vancouver winning for the Kanaka Creek Watershed Stewardship Centre; the District of North Vancouver for the Delbrook Community Recreation Centre; the City of Surrey for the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre; and the City of Richmond for the Alexandra District Energy Building.

The Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments accepted an award for the Village of Salmo’s 6th Street Pedestrian Covered Bridge project. The North Central Local Government Association won for the City of Quesnel/Cariboo Regional District’s West Fraser Centre project.

"We salute these winning communities for building their civic projects with wood, and for helping to build a wood culture in B.C. We are seeing an unparalleled level of interest in wood by communities as they recognize the role wood can play in reducing their carbon footprint and achieving their climate action goals. The result is the use of wood products and building systems in an array of community project types, sizes and applications as both a structural and architectural building material," Wood WORKS! BC executive director Lynn Embury-Williams said in a statement.

The Wood WORKS! BC Community Recognition Awards are presented annually to communities that "have been exemplary advocates for wood. This may be demonstrated through the specification of wood in a community project and/or through visionary initiatives that work toward building a community culture of wood," a Canadian Wood Council news release explains.

Recipients of awards for the Southern Interior Local Government Association and the Vancouver Island Local Government Association will be announced at each association’s respective convention in spring 2018.