Committed to the Kootenays

Castlegar Toyota’s new building caters to customers’ needs

The design of the new Castlegar Toyota building reflects the open skies of the Kootenays. —photo by Andrew Zwicker

by Jody Mendenhall

Castlegar Toyota’s new building of glass, wood and steel is bright, spacious and open. Dealer principal Craig Kalawsky anticipates that his employees and customers will be thrilled with it. Kalawsky worked with Fairbank Architects in Nelson to come up with the design. “I think it reflects our open skies,” he said. “We have a lot of glass and wood and steel to reflect the openness, the water and the forest.” Kalawsky is also pleased about the expanded space in the new facility “It’s three times the size of what we are currently in,” said Kalawsky. “So right off the bat, having a bigger facility is going to give us better display.” As well, the 10-bay shop will be two times larger than the previous shop. “The nice thing about that is we’re going to have more capacity,” said Kalawsky, “and the wait time for customers to get in will be significantly reduced.” Located on Columbia Avenue in Castlegar, the new building boasts many environmentally friendly features, such as an auto-dimming showroom that responds to outside light, low-wattage lighting, a computer-controlled heating and cooling system and a shop heated with used oil from cars. “My goal is to be the first carbon-neutral dealership in B.C.,” said Kalawsky. Kalawsky plans to have a carbon-neutral consultant assess the finished structure to determine what else can be done to ultimately make it carbon-neutral. Another exciting feature of the new dealership is the service drive-thru. Unique to the West Kootenay, the drive-thru will allow customers to pull their car right up inside the shop. “Our service personnel will greet them right at their car,” said Kalawsky. “It’s going to make for a lot better experience for the customers. They’ll be out of the weather . . . and can point out right on their car what concerns they have.” Kalawsky said that, overall, construction has gone well. The building is very close to being completed and the grand opening is anticipated to be in October. “I was quite impressed with how everything, all of these separate entities, got organized and worked together to get it done,” said Kalawsky. And Kalawsky is excited about being in the new space. “We want the experience for customers and for our employees, as well, to be better,” he said. “In our smaller, older facility we were in, we were limited on the type of service we could provide. With the new place, we’re not limited.” Kalawsky appreciates his staff and feels that having them and a new building is a winning combination. “We have a really good group of staff here,” he said. “We all focus on taking care of customers, and with that kind of motto, people come back. “I believe that we are showing a commitment to the area and that we will be here for the long term and that we want to be. The Kootenays is a great place to be.”

Key Castlegar contacts

Castlegar, BC

Save power, reap rewards

FortisBC is committed to providing safe, reliable electrical service at the lowest reasonable cost. The company serves approximately 110,000 customers directly in communities throughout south central British Columbia, including Kelowna, Osoyoos, Trail, Castlegar, Princeton and Rossland—and approximately 47,500 customers through the wholesale supply of power to municipal distributors in the communities of Summerland, Penticton, Kelowna, Grand Forks and Nelson.

FortisBC provides services such as:
    •    Generating and distributing electricity to homes and businesses in the southern interior of British Columbia
    •    24-hour outage repair and emergency response
    •    Building, maintaining and upgrading power lines and facilities
    •    Installing and reading meters
    •    Providing electrical safety education in the community

FortisBC

www.fortisbc.com
Castlegar, BC

A legacy for the people

Created by the people, for the people, Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) serves the residents of the Canadian portion of the Columbia River Basin. Working closely with people who live in the Basin, CBT assists communities in addressing their needs by: providing resources and funding; focusing on local priorities and issues; bringing people together around key issues; providing useful, credible, accessible information; encouraging collaboration and partnerships; and seeking ongoing input from Basin residents. CBT provides funding and grants through a variety of programs including Arts, Culture and Heritage, Business Advocacy, Environment, Scholarships and Community Development. In addition, CBT supports regional initiatives such as Climate Change Adaptation, Water Stewardship, Literacy, Youth Engagement, and Land Conservation.

Columbia Basin Trust

www.cbt.org/mybasin
Castlegar, BC

ConCreate USL Ltd.: Doing it better

At ConCreate USL Ltd., we complete projects in a timely fashion, and we always deliver high quality results. ConCreate’s project managers and supervisors are trained to adjust to all types of working conditions. They adapt to these situations so that you don’t have to. When we take on a project, we make every effort to ensure that it’s an ongoing positive experience for our clients. Our fine work and reputation speak for themselves, whether the project includes the repair or new construction of a bridge in Alberta, rehabilitation of a parking structure in Ontario, or one of our most recent successes: the construction of a luge track in BC for use in the 2010 Olympics.

Concreate USL Ltd.

www.usl-1983.com
Castlegar, BC

City Of Castlegar

www.castlegar.ca
Fernie, BC

Capital Drywall Ltd.

capitaldrywallsystems.com
Castlegar, BC

Kalesnikoff Lumber Co. Ltd.

www.kalesnikoff.com
Castlegar, BC

Shasheen Machine Ltd.

www.shasheenmachine.com
Castlegar, BC

Kootenay Innovative Wood Ltd.

www.kiwood.com
Castlegar, BC

Nufloors (Castlegar)

www.nufloors.ca/castlegar