Quadra Island Community Centre History

Our History:

In the 1890’s the first non-indigenous settlers came to Valdez Island and logged, fished and ranched. By 1918, the Valdez Island Social Club, organized by Mary Bryant, the first non-indigenous settler woman on the island, fundraised $500 with her peers and the first hall was built. The land was donated by the Tom Bell family for a dollar (The Children’s Centre is now located on that property).

People from the little settlement of Campbell River rowed their boats over to Gowland Harbour and walked up to the hall for dances. A pioneer-built road went from the hall to what is now Quadra Loop. This is the main trail in Blenkin Park to the back road and historical location of the Ann Bryant homestead.

The hall was viable through the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. In 1954, to conform with the renaming of the island, the Valdez Island Social Club was changed to the Quadra Island Recreation Association. By 1960, a car ferry started running between Campbell River and Quadra, and everything changed. The old hall was falling into disrepair and it was hard to get volunteers to maintain it. There was an attempt in 1967 to build a new hall as a Centennial Project marking Canada’s 100th birthday, but that failed. 

By 1973, the Recreation Association tore the old hall down, which was in disrepair.  Also, in the 70’s, hordes of 20-somethings came in droves to the island. Locals called it “the hippy invasion”. It was the first wave of baby boomers leaving home in the cities across North America to make their own lives “back to the land” and Quadra Island was an ideal destination.

The Recreation Association was changed to a Society with Charitable status in 1978 to make fundraising easier. The 20-somethings were turning into 30-somethings by 1980, had their kids and had their homes somewhat built, and needed a public place to meet: a community centre for themselves and their kids. In 1980 there was a referendum to build a recreation centre onto the school and make it a community school, but that failed by 40 votes. 

By 1983, a new group of people lead by Carol Harling Bleeks, who had just graduated from UBC in Recreation, lead the new committee to build a Community Centre in Blenkin park. By 1985 it was finished to lock-up.

A board initiative started a daycare in the building as a funding source for the facility. (Oops! Bad idea. Putting away an entire Day Care each day, so that the hall could be used for other activities proved too challenging). In 1987 the day care became their own society and in 1989 moved the former Waldorf school buildings to the old hall site, and they have leased the land from the Recreation Society ever since. Historically, we have a strong connection with the Children’s Centre.

In 1986 we applied for a Charitable Gaming license and bingo became our chief funding source. By 1991 we had to augment that by going to referendum to get on the tax roll. The population voted 64% to support the Community Centre through property taxation.  This marked a huge change in our focus. We could now concentrate on recreation programming instead of fundraising to survive.

The Community Centre was in a class “c” provincial park which government officials thought should be a Regional District community park. Negotiations to change the status started in 1988 and by 1996 were completed. Throughout all of these changes the Quadra Island Recreation Society continued to remain key in keeping the facility it built with the community running strong and managed successfully. When the park changed status in 1996 and was designated a Regional District Park, the Quadra Island Recreation Society had to enter into an agreement with the Regional District to manage the Community Centre and Blenkin Park for the community, and has done so ever since.  

By 1994 the Community Centre Addition Project was started and by 2001 a $526,000 addition to add 3 new rooms, a new stage and adequate washrooms was completed. Thanks to hard work by the Society in fundraising and grant writing and to our supportive community, sufficient funds were raised, leaving the Centre debt free. By 2006 landscaping projects beautified the grounds surrounding the Centre. By January 2008 the north entrance was upgraded with a stone wall demarcating a pedestrian area and a tots play area. In 2011, enough funds had been raised to build a new CSA approved playground to the east side of the community Centre and in 2013 the side courtyard and front entrance landscaping pavers were completed. 

Future plans include a redesign and redevelopment of the bike jump park into a multi ability/all ages bike park and pump track. As well as the park expansion and protection of the area where the community’s most beloved Community Centre Trails network is located. Aside from already being an important community recreation area, this location is also an important wildlife corridor, wetlands and historic site, and is really the beating heart of our island, being the most centrally accessible park area. 

The longevity and continued role of the Society and it’s many volunteer committees has built a wonderfully unique Community Centre for our Island, and the amenities we have, such as the tennis courts, the skate park, the riding ring, the fields, the playgrounds and our amazing network of island trails, are just some of the things Islanders can access for their recreation. This is thanks to the Society’s hard work on fundraising, grant applications and by working with many community volunteers and committees and over many years. We must also not forget that a huge piece of this is community contributions through thousands of hours of community volunteered, hard labour, that has not only gone into all of the above, but also into building our unique and beautiful Community Centre. Now many years on, the Quadra Island Recreation Society, along with the strong support of the community, has built a legacy for so many generations of Quadra Islanders to enjoy. This legacy is a journey that the Quadra Island Recreation Society continues to build upon and as the Society’s mission statement states, we are continually: “building community through recreation”. We continue to do this, day in and day out, through programming, multiuse community gathering spaces, fundraising, grant applications and strong community events and traditions, such as May Day, the Christmas Craft Fair and Halloween Fun Night, just to name a few!

This is a brief sketch of the last 100 years of recreation on Quadra. If you have your own stories about the Recreation Society, Community Centre, or Blenkin Park that you would like to share, we would love to receive an email from you.    

The Community Centre is your place to ignite and engage your recreation passions. Join a class, an activity, a group or attend an event, and maybe get involved by volunteering.  Or if you have a special talent or are an instructor, why not create your own community offering?! We have low community rental rates for the rental of wonderful spaces, and funds received all go back into keeping your Community Centre ready for use.   

If you’d like to find out more about what’s currently on offer, go to our website: http://www.quadrarec.bc.ca   navigate to our Recreation Calendar, click on each heading to expand it and then scroll down to read about that activity and who to contact to register. Feel free to also reach out to us by phone (250-285-3243) or by emailing: info@quadrarec.bc.ca

Finally, we’d like to give a HUGE thank you to all of YOU for your continued support of your Community Centre! It’s all of YOU who make this place great and we can’t wait to see more of you again this year!

Quadra Island Recreation Society History, originally written by (29 year) Coordinator Sandy Spearing and updated by Rebecca Young 

Quadra Island Community Centre
"Building Community Through Recreation"