redesign Rupert morphs to Economic Development office overview

It's another change for the redesign Rupert program, with the city's vehicle for urban renewal now set to be part of the Prince Rupert Economic Development office.

There's been no official announcement of the shift yet, but with the contract for Project Manager Ceilidh Marlow expiring on December 20th, and apparently no funding available for a continuance, the initiative has now been handed over to the PRED office.

Ms. Marlow was a tireless worker on behalf of the redesign Rupert brand and provided for a steady flow of background on the project that most recently delivered the December community reveal program at the Lester Centre in December.

She arrived as part of the redesign Rupert team in August of 2018 having previously worked in communications at the Museum of Northern British Columbia, as well as some work with SD52 prior to that.

Through her year of service to the project, Ms. Marlow was quick to highlight the many elements of the program as it progressed and ensured that the initiative had a high level of visibility in the community.

Such was the extent of her efforts that the Project Manager was given a shout out by Larry Beasley, the Internationally renowned Planner who helped the redesign Rupert partners craft the Rupert 2020 Vision plan and presented the path ahead at the Vision reveal on December 12th.

Neither the City of Prince Rupert, or Community Futures have so far made note of the change of direction for the initiative, or to offer up a farewell to the Project program manager, who now will be looking for other opportunities to explore in the communication field.

Though when it comes to personnel announcements for city led projects, the updates tend to be few and far between from City Hall when it comes to hirings and departures over the last few years.

It's the second significant shift for the redesign Rupert brand which was first hinted at when Mayor Lee Brain took office and was officially introduced in February of 2016, then through an arrangement with the University of Northern British Columbia and it's Community Development Institute.

That partnership appeared to come to an end early in February 2018, again with no information from the City, as to the fate of the project until it was reborn in the summer of that same year.

As for the future of the redesign Rupert concept, we apparently will just have to wait until the Mayor and City Council feels the time is right for an update on what's next for the much trumpeted, but at times somewhat mysterious municipal initiative.

You can review some of the history of the redesign Rupert program from our past entries found on our archive pages.

For more items of note on City Council themes see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.