Workers at the Coast Bastion Inn are under the gun to complete a $280,000 renovation to the hotel’s ballroom in time for its first event.
The Canadian Home Builders’ Association – Central Vancouver Island is holding its annual industry construction forum dinner in the ballroom Thursday (Jan. 12), but Volker Grady, Coast Bastion general manager, sees no problem in making the deadline.
“We thought we had until the weekend, but we will be ready in time,” he said. “ We have some amazing chandeliers coming in that won’t be here in time, but people won’t be dining by candlelight. They should be pleased with the changes.”
The ballroom blitz, designed by Nanaimo’s JBD Design Group, began in mid December and includes new carpeting, lighting, work on the walls and ceiling, and a audio-visual system Grady is particularly proud of.
“We’re going to have four state-of-the-art LCD projectors that will come out of the ceiling,” he said. “The quality is what we’re looking forward to. It’s going to be sharp, crisp images and amazing sound.”
The work is the first on the ballroom since a minor upgrade in 2002.
“About every 10 years you have to do a refit,” said Grady. “The city keeps saying there needs to be upgrades in the hotels in town and we are obliging. We can’t provide more rooms, but we can provide better rooms.”