After long and tough negotiations with the greater Vancouver region cities as well as the province, Vancouver Hack Space (VHS) is proud to announce its winning bid for the provincial plans to establish a maker-island on Douglas Island (Google Maps). This will be in preparation of legislation that is currently under development that will ultimately bar any hacker/maker activity within the city limits of nearly all of the metropolitan Vancouver city councils. Over the next few months, VHS will start reaching out to fellow hacker-/maker-/creative-spaces in the GVRD to establish requirements and timelines for the eventual move. The plans for the development of Douglas Island will include a permanent VMMF structure, as well as member-accommodations and space to build log houses.
Initial construction is to commence early April of 2019.
Of course, there are those who may have noticed, Douglas Island doesn’t exactly have a whole lot of road access, or even a bridge. Fortunately, GVRD Public Infrastructure Director, Aprile Pesce, has sent out a reassuring memo. The memo states architectural plans for the new Douglas Island bridge have already been completed, and construction is due to begin just days from now.
Douglas Island is easily accessible close to major roads and transit in the growing community of Port Coquitlam close to downtown Vancouver.
I truly commend the cities of Metro Vancouver cooperating in the selection of Douglas Island as a Maker hub.
Douglas Island will soon exceed Granville Island popularity attracting artist and Makers from throughout the Metro Vancouver. Douglas Island will be a favourite destination for visiting tourist looking enjoy the craftsmanship of Vancouver Makers, Artists and technology Hackers. The cottage industry of technology Hackers is expected to attract many manufacturers to the region to meet their increasing demands.
