a a Ne a. Be kind FEATURE PAGE 23 First step in harbor overhaul F- SNUG COVE DREDGING APPROVED BY FEDS FISHERIES and Oceans Canada announced Tuesday that it will sink sapproxinsately $1. million into expanding and dredging Snug Cove as part of Bowen Island's multi-million dollar harbor revitalization project. An additional $1 million project to overhaul federal government floats at the head of the cove his yet to be approved by Transport Canada, but a decision is expected later this year. The new float is another integral piece of Snug Cove's overall revitalization. Scheduled to start July 1, the $980,000, four-month dredging project is crucial ta the entire har- bor overhaul and the $3.8 million expansion of Snug Cove’s Union Steamship Company Marina. The marina’s controversial ex- pansion project is a major compo- nent of Bowen's overall harbor revitalization, which was initiated to help Bowen deal with the ever- increasing numbers of people visiting the island and the Greater Vancouver Regional District's 600-acre Crippen Regional Park, and to restore the cove's historical role as the island's transportation and commercial centre. But a number of Bowen Island residents have vehemently opposed the expansion since it was initially proposed in 1988, arguing that it will destroy the island's rural character, increase concentration of commercial space on the cove’s shore, encroach on the waterfront of Crippen Park and give marina owner Rondy Dike virtual control over the entire cove. After coming up with a half dozen different marina proposals and negouating with all three lev els of government in his four-year battle to expand his marina, Dike won final zoning approval March 21 for his plan trom the Islands Trust. “I'm very pleased.” Tuesday. ‘‘It’s been a ordeal."* The marina project, which ong- inally called for an expansion to 300 berths from the current &S, now cails for 170 berths, a small marine pub, a laundromat and Dike said long various commercial services for boaters. All) marina operations are scheduled to be in full operation in 1990, In addition to paving the way for the marina expansion and on- shore commercial revitalization, the dredging project will clear ac- cumulaied sewage sludge from the harbor, whose water quality is far below minimal health standards; provide deep-water boating access and moorage on the protected side of the existing federal floats; and create a new beach front at the head of Snug Cove. Gail Taylor, Bowen Island's GVRD representative and a driving force behind the harbor revitaliza- tion project, called Tuesday's an- nouncement ‘eaciting’’ and a pos- itive step forward for an overhaul- ed Snug Cove. Canadian Coast Guard spokesman Dave Barratt said Tuesday Transport Canada t» still considering the project to replace the present two-fingered federal float in Snug Cove with a single float that would ‘'maximize’’ moorage for transient vessels and act as a breakwater for the harbor and expanded marina. The protected side of the federal float is currently too shaflow to be used bv larger vessels. He said a decision on the pro- ject, which is estimated at roughty $i million, should be made later this year. In making Tuesday's an- nouncement, Capilano MP Mars Collins, a longtime supporter of the harbor revitalization project, said area fourism was ‘a growth industrs and the expanded marina will help Snug Cove make the most of the opportunities. The overhaul of Snug Cove, she said, would provide economic spinoffs for all of Bowen Island. MEWS photo Mike Wakofietd Boning up on science OVER 50 exhibits, including the one above, were on display at last Wednesday’s science fair at Caulfeild Elementary School. Ten-year-old Meaghan Hennessy, foreground, and Karen Gladden, 11, used their model to demonstrate growth and de- velopment of the skeletal system.