A Ucluelet body of water has achieved such a degree of permanence that it has now been gazetted as an official geographical feature by the Geographical Names Board of Canada.
“We don’t gazette unless a feature has been present for years, is of sufficient size, and is of noteworthy significance to local people. Our evaluation shows this body of water easily meets those criteria,” said Brian Fumbelwort, executive cartographer at the GNB.
Once perceived as a troublesome drainage problem, the lake’s new designation allows the district works yard to see the mid-sidewalk body of water as a village highlight and ignore it. The money saved from the district maintenance budget has been reallocated to fund a plaque displaying the lake’s new name.
District council, which has authority to recommend a name for the feature, has decided to call it Lake St. Jacques. This is in keeping with the recent trend of naming village landmarks after longtime local politicians — for example, the planned St. Jacques Community Centre, the nearly completed Royal Dianne Athletic Park, the DSJ Hall (formerly the UAC Hall), and the Dianne St. Jacques Sunset Senior’s Residence, located on the corner of St. Jacques Boulevard and Dianne Street.
The value of residential properties bordering on Lake St. Jacques is soaring as a result of their new lakefront status. Educators at UES were also pleased to adopt the lake as the school’s new swimming facility.
