If there’s one thing Damir Dugandzic has learned from his years in the hospitality business, it’s to listen to his customers.
Now, the longtime owner of the Burrard Public House on St. Johns Street in Port Moody wants to apply that lesson to a development he’s planning to build on a vacant lot behind the pub that he has owned for 19 years.
On Monday, Dugandzic is hosting an open house at the Burrard from 5 to 8 p.m. to solicit ideas for the property, which is located off Kyle Street between Spring and Clarke streets.
“We’ve been listening to our customers every single day for nearly 20 years,” Dugandzic said. “We care about what people have to say. That’s just how we do things around here.”
With Port Moody at the front edge of a transformation to take advantage of opportunities brought by the arrival of the Evergreen Extension and the now quick and easy links to the rest of Metro Vancouver, Dugandzic said he doesn’t want his project to just be piling on to some of the bigger, more high-profile projects already in the works or being anticipated.
“We don’t plan to push the envelope and ask for more,” Dugandzic said.
He said he only has some vague notions for what he wants to build and how it will conform to the official community plan — no architectural plans yet, no artist’s renderings.
“What Moody Centre merchants need more than anything is foot traffic,” Dugandzic said, adding. “We won’t know what the building will look like until later this year.”
What Dugandzic does know is he wants the project to be his legacy that will continue to affect the community in a positive way long after he’s gone. Asking residents what they want, what the community needs, is the first step to achieve that.
“This project will be a landmark,” Dugandzic said. “We want to make sure it’s good quality and that it includes sustainable features.”
