The Courtenay River is one of the defining features of our community.
It runs alongside our downtown, connects important natural areas and provides habitat for fish and wildlife. It is also a place where people walk, gather and experience one of the things that makes Courtenay such a special place to live.
Along Anderton Avenue, however, a significant section of the riverfront has been dealing with a much less visible problem: a failing retaining wall.
Addressing that problem is necessary for public safety and long-term infrastructure resilience. But it also presents an opportunity to think differently about this important section of our riverfront.
Rather than simply replacing an ageing structure, the City is developing plans to remove the failing wall, restore the riverbank and create a space that can better serve both the river and the community for decades to come.
Why does the retaining wall need to be addressed?
The project area extends approximately 320 metres along the west bank of the Courtenay River, from 90 5th Street—the former Bridge Lounge site—to the northern end of Riverside Park.
The existing sheet-pile and concrete retaining wall has experienced significant deterioration.
Erosion has undermined portions of its foundation, creating concerns about its long-term structural integrity. The wall is also a registered flood-protection structure, which means its condition cannot simply be ignored.
In 2023, the City notified residents and the community about the risk associated with the failing section of the wall.
That began a series of steps to address the immediate safety concerns and determine the best long-term solution for the site.
Preparing the site
Addressing the retaining wall also required dealing with several buildings immediately adjacent to it.
The City acquired the Anderton Arms property in 2024 because of the safety risk associated with the failing wall. Residents were relocated, with support from M’akola Housing Society made available during the process.
The City also acquired the former Cona Hostel property.
In 2025, the former Bridge Lounge, Cona Hostel and Anderton Arms buildings were demolished. The work included hazardous-material abatement, site clearing and measures to protect the river during demolition.
Removing those buildings created the space necessary to properly assess the riverbank and consider a long-term solution.
It also created something we have not had in this location for many years: an opportunity to reconsider how this section of the downtown riverfront could function.
Why restore the riverbank instead of rebuilding the wall?
The City considered several approaches to the failing retaining wall, including repairing the existing structure.
After examining the alternatives, removing the wall and restoring the riverbank was identified as the most cost-effective long-term solution.
This approach also creates environmental and recreational opportunities that simply rebuilding the wall would not provide.
A restored riverbank can establish a more natural shoreline that is better able to resist erosion while creating opportunities to improve habitat and ecological function.
>Importantly, removing the wall is not currently expected to increase flood risk to nearby properties because the surrounding land is higher than the wall. Detailed technical analysis remains part of the design process.
This is a good example of why infrastructure decisions should consider more than replacing an existing asset with another version of the same thing.
Sometimes a different approach can provide better long-term value.
Infrastructure and environmental restoration can work together
Environmental responsibility and infrastructure planning are sometimes presented as competing priorities.
Projects like this demonstrate that they do not have to be.
The City needs to address a failing piece of infrastructure.
At the same time, we have an opportunity to restore a section of riverbank rather than maintaining a hard barrier along the shoreline indefinitely.
A restored shoreline can improve resilience to erosion, support ecological restoration and create a more natural relationship between the downtown and the river.
That is particularly important in a community like Courtenay, where our rivers and estuary are significant environmental assets.
The objective should be infrastructure that protects the community while respecting and, where possible, improving the natural systems around it.
Listening before deciding what comes next
The future of this site should also reflect the people who will use it.
In spring 2026, the City launched the first phase of public engagement, asking residents what values, priorities and amenities they wanted considered for the riverfront.
That feedback, together with technical assessments of the site, was used to develop three conceptual design options.
A second round of public engagement followed in the summer, giving residents an opportunity to review those concepts and provide additional feedback.
This is an important part of the process.
There are technical requirements that any final design must satisfy. The riverbank needs to be stable, resilient and environmentally responsible.
But there are also choices about how the public space could function and what people would like to experience there.
Public engagement helps inform those choices before the design is finalized.
Connecting the riverfront to downtown
The Anderton Riverbank project should also be considered alongside the other changes occurring in downtown Courtenay.
The 6th Street Active Transportation Bridge now provides a new connection across the river.
The City is planning improvements to the 6th Street corridor.
The Downtown Vitalization Local Area Plan is examining the long-term future of the downtown area.
Taken together, these projects provide an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between downtown Courtenay and the river.
For many years, portions of the Anderton Avenue riverfront have been occupied by ageing buildings and infrastructure that limited public access and views of the river.
Restoration creates the possibility of a different relationship with that space.
That does not mean every metre of riverfront needs to become the same type of park or public amenity.
It means we have an opportunity to consider how the riverfront fits into the larger downtown and how it can contribute to a more attractive, connected and enjoyable public realm.
Planning for resilience
There is also a broader lesson in this project.
Communities throughout British Columbia are increasingly having to think about how infrastructure responds to flooding, erosion, extreme weather and changing environmental conditions.
Traditional infrastructure solutions will not always be the best long-term answer.
In some circumstances, working with natural systems can provide greater resilience than continually rebuilding hard infrastructure.
That is one of the ideas being explored along Anderton Avenue.
The conceptual design phase is being funded by the Province of British Columbia through the Disaster Resilience Innovation Funding program, reflecting the project's role in improving long-term resilience.
Provincial funding for the planning phase also reduces the amount the City must fund locally while allowing the technical and design work to move forward.
Getting the design right before construction
There is still significant work to complete.
Once a preferred concept is selected, the project will move into detailed design. That process will refine the technical solution, environmental components, public-space elements and project cost.
Construction is currently anticipated for 2028.
That timeline is important because it gives the City an opportunity to properly understand the site and develop a realistic project before committing to construction.
As with other major infrastructure projects, the process should include:
- completing the necessary technical and environmental assessments;
- incorporating community feedback into the preferred design;
- refining construction and lifecycle cost estimates;
- identifying regulatory and environmental requirements;
- continuing coordination with K’ómoks First Nation;
- exploring provincial and federal funding opportunities; and
- ensuring the final design provides good long-term value.
Planning carefully at this stage reduces the risk of costly changes once construction begins.
Working with K’ómoks First Nation
Any work along the Courtenay River also needs to recognize the cultural and environmental importance of this area to K’ómoks First Nation.
The City has been strengthening its government-to-government relationship with K’ómoks First Nation across infrastructure, environmental planning, emergency management and community initiatives.
That relationship is particularly important when work involves waterways, archaeological considerations and culturally significant areas.
Reconciliation at the municipal level is not simply about acknowledgement.
It also means developing better ways to communicate, coordinate and make decisions when municipal projects affect lands and waters that have supported Indigenous communities for thousands of years.
That work needs to continue as the riverbank project advances.
More than repairing a failing wall
The original problem along Anderton Avenue is straightforward: the retaining wall is failing and needs to be addressed.
But the opportunity is larger.
We can replace deteriorating infrastructure with a more resilient riverbank.
We can improve ecological conditions along an important waterway.
We can create better opportunities for people to experience the river.
We can strengthen the connection between downtown and the waterfront.
And we can involve the community in deciding what that space should become.
That is the kind of infrastructure investment I believe we should pursue whenever circumstances allow—solving the immediate problem while looking for ways to create broader and longer-lasting benefits for the community.
The Courtenay River has shaped this community for generations.
The work now is to make sure the decisions we make along its banks respect that history while creating a riverfront that is resilient, accessible and valuable to future generations.