The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

>^ ÏÏena Bciki - Editer 1 W&rld-cktt maritime facility gefo city abuzz As 2007 comes to a close, there's a sense of excitement and anticipation in the air. And no, it's not just the prospect of snow for the local mountains. After a comprehensive all-inclusive process to create a Cultural Plan for the future, The City and District of North Vancouver's newly created bi-municipal Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) is finally setting up shop, replacing the recently dissolved Arts and Culture Commission of North Vancouver. Meet Ian Forsyth, the person helping to steer North Vancouver's new arts and culture course on page 4. Also creating a buzz, is the very real possibility of a National Maritime Centre for the Pacific and the Arctic, slated for the historic Pier development site in Lower Lonsdale. The federal and p r o v i n c i a l governments have bucked up S560,000 in combined funding for the City to develop a detailed business plan for a national and regional public attraction that will celebrate the unique maritime fabric of Canada's west coast. To quote M a y o r Darrell Mussatto "...the development of a world-class maritime facility would draw local and international visitors to the City's historic waterfront. N o t only would the National Maritime Centre be a major economic development initiative for the City, it has the potential to become a national landmark." Yikes. H a r d to believe that the site of the now long-gone, disheveled Seven Seas Restaurant, where I proudly took my first boyfriend for dinner, on my first pay cheque (hey, it was a seafood smorgasbord!), will literally be a natural host to water festivals, events attracting tall ships, deep sea vessels and naval vessels, and be a year round destination encompassing historic artifacts, interactive exhibits, maritime education, and restaurants and retail shops. No doubt about it, there's more than snow in the air. For more info on the National www.cnv.org/waterfrontproject Maritime Centre check out visit our totems... and over 80 shops and services including Sears and Wal-mart Capuano Mall capilanomall.com 935 Marine Drive, North Vancouver