Harbour Quay Renovations FAQ

Through the Home Town Takeover Canada renovation work, Harbour Quay has received the following updates and changes:

• New patio at the Marine Building
• Marine Building interior renovations in three units
• Two new small-scale business units at Spirit Square
• New signage
• Exterior paint work
• New bandshell in the park
• Several new murals and public art pieces

The show's producers chose Harbour Quay as the core civic space to receive a makeover based on their assessment of our revitalization goals in the Uptown District. By focusing on one of the biggest shopping and tourist draws in the area and enhancing it further, the show hopes it will help the City reignite more interest and activity in the area which can then encourage additional commercial activity and revitalization throughout the area. 

Selection decisions were made by HGTV and Rogers Sports & Media based on a large influx of information supplied by in person visits from production and many conversations with change makers throughout the town. Representatives from the production company visited the community several times in advance of the public announcement, to learn more about local changemakers, challenges, and what makes Port Alberni unique. The community's participation and the City's support throughout that process were essential to showcasing the town at its best.

Playground equipment was ordered by Home Town Takeover Canada for installation during the show’s production. The shipment was delayed and not installed in time for filming. City staff will be following up to finalize the plan for the equipment when it arrives. Stay tuned!

Home Town Takeover Canada covers the cost of the renovations to businesses and resident homes. The City of Port Alberni covers the cost of the renovations to civic spaces. The total City budget for the Harbour Quay renovations is $1.2 million.

City staff found sources of financing for this project from grant monies and strategies to leverage funding from non-tax sources, to cover the renovation work. 

This project has been advantageous as it offered a team of designers and experts at HGTV for the work—a significant value-add that would not be available to us otherwise.

This is an exciting new edition to Harbour Quay with the potential to add to the area’s vibrancy and culture! The City will be assessing this new community asset and developing a plan to utilize it for the community’s benefit. Stay tuned.

Yes. In the near future, Harbour Quay will once again re-open to community groups to host events. The City has received new infrastructure and assets through these renovations. City staff will be developing processes to manage these assets and provide community access and bookings. Stay tuned. In the meantime, inquiries can be sent to citypa@portalberni.ca. Stay tuned for further info!

The City worked closely with the contractors to provide building permits for the Harbour Quay renovations, recognizing the extraordinary nature of the project and timelines for the production.

The City’s Procurement Policy allows for exceptions to a public competitive process in limited circumstances, including where a competitive process is impractical because specialized third-party expertise is required, contractor continuity is necessary, or there is a strong value in retaining an existing contractor for a specific task.

In this case, the City determined that the opportunity involved a unique national film-related collaborative arrangement that could not reasonably be replicated through a standard competitive process. 

Hometown Takeover Canada worked with a local contractor, Mike McKinnon / Built Contracting, who is based just outside of Port Alberni in Parksville, BC. He has direct family ties to Port Alberni and has been part of the community his entire life. 

The City recognizes that residents expect transparency in procurement decisions. While some details cannot be released because of confidentiality obligations, the decision was made under the City’s existing Procurement Policy and with consideration of the anticipated economic development benefits for the community.

Now that production has wrapped, City staff will be assessing the changes to Harbour Quay parking spaces, traffic flow and other multi-modal travel impacts at the site. Please stay tuned for clear information on any changes and signage updates required.

Based on results seen in other communities featured in the Home Town Takeover format, the City anticipates Port Alberni to benefit from increased tourism interest following the airing of the series with the true impacts being felt in the summer of 2027 and well beyond. There was already a noted increase in visitor interest in Port Alberni during the production’s filming.

Moving forward, the City will develop a process and program for businesses to utilize these spaces in the near future. This plan will be clearly communicated to the public when launched. 

The Adventure Collective is an emerging tourism concept proposed to the City by Home Town Takeover Canada that is intended to explore ways to better connect visitors with local experiences and support the visitor economy. It has not been approved as a City-operated service, no operator has been selected, and no business or revenue model has been finalized. If the concept proceeds to the point of requiring City resources, partnerships, procurement, or formal commitments, it would be brought forward through the appropriate public process, including Council consideration where required.

All the businesses in the Marine Building are now back to their regular operating hours. 

Ten fire hydrants were painted at Harbour Quay and in the surrounding area. The artists are: 

• Jessica Jansen
• Quastania McCarthy
• Mandy Phoenix
• Olesia Matsai
• Sue Thomas & Sheri Reed
• Deanna Lankin
• Tiffany Blake
• Chelsey Bateson
• Christine Sparks
• Sandi Offerein 

The Harbour Quay sign was painted by Shayne Lloyd, as a collaborative process with Erin Napier from Home Town Takeover. Olesia Matsai was selected by the show’s producer to create the landscape painting inside the bandshell.
 

Beyond the improvements added to Harbour Quay, there were some community-based projects and community member homes were selected by the series for renovation. The show's format is based on surprise renovations, so we'll all be watching together this fall for the great reveal and full scope of updates!

The reveal is fundamental to how Home Town Takeover works — it's what makes the show genuinely emotional and surprising, both for the people whose spaces are transformed and for viewers at home. This isn't about withholding information; it's about protecting an experience that's at the heart of what makes the show so powerful. We appreciate the community's patience and excitement, and will have to wait for the big reveal when the show airs this fall!
 

The tote bags and hats were produced as a limited run for August and sold on a cost-recovery basis.  Visit the Port Alberni Museum gift shop to purchase any remaining stock.