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Coming up in Cowichan: Celebrate the second floor with the HUB

Celebrate the second floor this weekend at HUB at Cowichan Station
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The HUB at Cowichan Station is ready to celebrate the official opening of their refurbished second floor. (file photo)

Celebrate the second floor this weekend at HUB at Cowichan Station

Dec. 16 is time to celebrate at the HUB.

After seven years of hard work and amazing support from the community, volunteers and staff with the Cowichan Station Area Association are happy to welcome the community back upstairs at the historic former school, now known as The HUB.

While parts of The HUB have been increasingly available since 2012, this section needed extensive renovations to meet modern safety standards and was closed to the public until about three weeks ago.

The two sunny, open, wood-floored upper rooms, named the Co-op Community Room, and Heritage Room, will be used for community events hosted by CSAA, and as multi-purpose rental spaces for art showings, educational workshops, and more. Already in the first two weekends, they were home to a Capoeira workshop, and the popular Boreal Collective Maker Fair.

Over the past century, these rooms served many uses, most recently as the principal’s office and library of Cowichan Station School. Each room is about 900 square feet and has 12 large windows, still containing some panes of original heritage glass. New washrooms and hallway restorations were included in the project.

The event on Sunday, Dec. 16 is being billed as the Upstairs Grand Opening, and runs from 1-3 p.m. The HUB is located at 2375 Koksilah Rd.

Funding for this project was provided by Government of British Columbia, Co-op Community Spaces, Coastal Community Credit Union, Cowichan Valley Regional District, and Island Ford, as well as through local fundraising events and donations. Generous in-kind support was provided by local businesses, notably Viridian Energy Co-operative, Heirloom Wood Floors, Bahnmann Timber, Friendly Neighbourhood Painting, Jens Barsballe (Arborist), Cowichan Community Workshop, River Run Carpentry, AAE Structural Ltd., and Orangutang Design.