Resort
Silva Bay Resort & Marina is a destination for locals, boaters and tourists alike. We have designed our development in a way that supports the local community by providing new amenities, including a grocery store, restaurant and lounge area. The green space at the Resort & Marina is free for use by the public, and provides renewed opportunities for locals to enjoy the beauty present in this corner of Gabriola Island.
The resort and shipyards have existed on Gabriola Island for many years. In 2017, the previous restaurant and general store at the Silva Bay Marina burned down. In 2018, Silva Bay Resort and Marina Ltd., purchased the site with the intention of restoring the property that had been destroyed in the fire.
Our intention is not only to replace the restaurant and general store, but to clean up and improve upon the property with a new elegant 16 room hotel, incorporating renewed environmentally-conscious infrastructure and landscaping.
Liquor is planned to be available for purchase at the new grocery store, as well as for consumption on-site at the restaurant and bar.
Kim and Bo from Blue Sky Architecture are our main architects for our development project. For information about them, visit https://www.blueskyarchitecture.com/about.
In our initial plan, we intended to dedicate an area at the Resort & Marina for employee accommodations. However, due to various bylaw and parking constraints we have taken these accommodation plans out of phase 1 of the development plan. We will be actively exploring the solutions for the staff accommodation as we progress in the development.
There will be future job opportunities for locals in both the construction phase and once the resort is in full swing.
We have hired local teams on Gabriola for our landscape architects and arborists. Our land surveyor, geotechnical engineers, structural engineers, civil engineers and mechanical engineers are all island based (Nanaimo and surrounding areas). Additionally our architects, building code and electrical engineers are also from close by in Vancouver.
They have a rich knowledge of west coast culture and have designed the infrastructure and landscape to meld seamlessly with the naturalelements of Silva Bay.
Shipyard
We still intend to use the space for the shipyard and retain the heritage of Silva Bay although the rail lift is no longer safe to operate according to the analysis performed by the shipyard operator in the summer of 2021. Until this point we had intended to continue operating the shipyard business, but without a functional rail lift this is no longer possible. Due to the nature of the rail lift area, it takes two to three years to go through the required permitting processes at various levels of government. We will provide more information to the public when it is available.
We want to repair and maintain the shipyard to the point where it can be safely operating again. Fixing the rail lift problem is our main priority at this stage.
We will be studying every possibility and keep the options open in order to bring back the functional shipyard and we will provide updates when new information is available.
A team of professional engineers from Pacific Industrial Marine will be performing shipyard construction duties here at Silva Bay. Construction signages are being installed to ensure the safety of both workers and visitors. In addition, environmental monitoring is being carried out daily for any in-water works by Legacy. At Silva Bay Resort & Marina we greatly value the importance of the natural environment. We will continue to preserve our local environment throughout this development and afterwards.
Water / Sewage
All water fixtures in the facility are designed to use minimal quantities of water. We also plan to educate and encourage guests to reduce water consumption by making them aware of the importance of water conservation on Gabriola Island.
We intend to collect rainwater solely for the use of the reflecting pond feature in front of the hotel. This rainwater is for decorating purposes only and not for commercial usage.
We are replacing the existing ocean outfall septic system and are determining a solution to make our septic system sustainable and environmentally-friendly. Our septic engineers from Trax Development Ltd. have designed high-performance tertiary treatments intended to protect both the ocean and nearby aquifers.
