The residential, commercial and retail face of Chilliwack changed in many ways in 2022.
From the new 170,000-square-foot Canadian Tire opening near the mall to The Eddy At The Bridge with brewery and climbing wall on the Vedder River, several new businesses opened up this year.
But the downtown of any city is always its heart, and for several years, let’s be honest, Chilliwack’s arteries were a little clogged.
Change, however, came and is still coming in big ways to downtown. Some of the stories The Progress wrote about this change are among the most important of the year.
At the core of it all, at Five Corners, is District 1881, which really came into its own in 2022 with several new businesses opening up, including a wine bar, a French bistro, and kitty corner from the development a new pub opened its doors.
Across Yale Road from District 1881, ground broke in February on the Paramount project, a 66-unit affordable housing project created by Chilliwack Community Services (CCS).
The affordable housing project is the largest endeavour undertaken by CCS in its nearly 100-year history.
Once built there will be 66 units of housing over six storeys, 58 for seniors, and 8 for young adults. CCS staff will have offices in the new building on the first two floors.
“The Paramount Project has been a dream of Chilliwack Community Services for many years,” CCS board president Luke Zacharias said in February at the ceremonial kickoff of construction.
Then in March, not far away at Main Street and Kipp Avenue, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for two new apartment buildings at the long-vacant site of the old Safeway.
Two six-storey buildings will contain 193 mostly one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, with some three-bedrooms available for phase one.
Mayor Ken Popove said he was excited to see the project underway, noting the two downtown developments, District 1881 and the Mann Group project at the Safeway site, will be like “bookends.”
“It’s about time we got something going here,” Popove said, offering congratulations to the project team.
Several housing projects broke ground or were completed across the city in 2022, including several on Indigenous reserve land, all adding to the housing stock of this ever-growing city.
But these projects downtown could be critical investments in the area, bringing people into the beating heart that the area needs to be.
READ MORE: Affordable housing in Chilliwack for seniors and youth coming with the Paramount project
READ MORE: Groundbreaking at downtown site marks ‘key piece of revitalization’ for Chilliwack
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