The First Month as Project Manager of the Village Commons

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Richard Andrews compared his first month as Project Manager of the Village Commons, in downtown Mansons Landing, to the years he was the Executive Director of a non profit in Vancouver.

“There's a lot of planning going on right now.  We're in  phase one of our build. We have the welcome pole to make, and a big pavilion. The funnest work is going to be making a playground.  The vending zone and the playground are mysterious right now. I have an idea of what they might be. I have an idea of what people want because we have  a lot of documentation from the Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA) about the community process they went through to determine what was to be done with this property,” he said.

“Just today, in the midst of a staff meeting, we realized that maybe what we should be doing is thinking of the whole property as one big playground for people of all ages.” 

The Cortes Island Community Foundation hired Richard at the beginning of July. 

A lot of his first month has been spent in meetings

RA: “I’ve been coordinating a lot with other people about things to do, making plans, having meetings and discussions, listening to other people's opinions about how things ought to go.  That's like, reopening a part of my brain that's been fallow for a long time. So, it's probably good for an old brain to be engaged in that way again.”