Could you imagine what living a day in a bustling new Ioco neighbourhood would be like?
If so, the team representing the area's new landowners hopes you'll join one of two open houses scheduled for next week.
The events, on the evening of July 23 and the afternoon of July 26, come after months of research and meetings with traffic engineers, city planners and environmental consultants as well as the Port Moody Heritage Society, and will give the public a chance to share their visions for the property and see those ideas come to life with an artist.
"We haven't designed anything yet, we're still doing the research and trying to understand what we've got," said James Cheng, the architect representing the new Ioco owners, Brilliant Circle Group. They're reaching out to the public to see what kind of issues and ideas local residents can share.
Cheng said some of the common themes they've heard from stakeholders so far include opening up the waterfront for public use, providing opportunities for shopping and recreation, relieving traffic issues on Ioco Road and, particularly in the summer, at the First Avenue junction splitting off to the villages of Belcarra and Anmore, and protecting the Mossom Creek watershed and historic sites.
"We don't see these as challenges, those are solutions," Cheng said, noting the interests of the landowner, the heritage society and Mossom Creek Hatchery are closely aligned.
After a presentation of the information collected to date, participants will break into groups with facilitators and artists from the Co-Design Group, who will ask residents to visualize a day in the life of living in Ioco. The artists will sketch the ideas on the spot, after which the drawings and ideas will be shared with the other groups.
"We're inviting the public to design with us," Cheng said. "After studying everything, it's bigger than just developing lots. That's not what we want to do, that's not contributing much to the community at all.
"Hopefully, there's a win-win situation for all, that's what I'm trying to do."
• Open house dates are on Thursday, July 23 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, July 26 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Old Orchard Hall in Port Moody. Anyone interested in participating (kids and pets are welcome, refreshments will be available) is asked to RSVP at www.iocolands.com.
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