The hosts are confident they got the transformation right, despite all the extra challenges that come with renovating a town, not a building.<\/p>\n
With the first season of Home Town Takeover set to thrust Port Alberni into the spotlight Sunday on HGTV, the hosts are confident they got the transformation right, despite all the extra challenges that come with renovating a town, not a building.<\/p>\n
For one thing, residents were still living and working in the town as the renovations happened over the summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d be standing there filming and all of a sudden realize there\u2019s a collection of people around us, because they\u2019re grabbing their groceries or they\u2019re doing things,\u201d said Sarah Baeumler, who co-hosts the Canadian version of the show with husband Bryan Baeumler.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to remember, life goes on for the larger community at whole, especially when you\u2019re working in public spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryan Baeumler likened the process to \u201cperforming open heart surgery,\u201d because of the pressure of people watching and the fact that it \u201ccould be a monumental mess if we go in and screw up a town.\u201d<\/p>\n
Port Alberni was selected to be featured on the show out of more than 250 applications from small towns across Canada. The criteria was that the towns have populations of under 20,000 people and embody a strong sense of community.<\/p>\n
Filming and construction started on June 10 and wrapped on Aug. 28.<\/p>\n
The \u201ctakeover\u201d consisted of various renovations to homes, businesses and public spaces, primarily in the Harbour Quay area.<\/p>\n
Along the waterfront, the Harbour Quay\u2019s marine building received a new exterior and patio extension, and individual businesses inside were renovated.<\/p>\n
The show\u2019s team also built new market-style kiosks in the quay area and a new bandshell for musicians.<\/p>\n
One of the key projects was also renovating eight homes of those selected as community \u201cchange makers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first episode features Gaelle, a local resident who cooks for and feeds those in need.<\/p>\n
Bryan said he was moved by her description of how when she was younger, she didn\u2019t have enough food to eat and wanted to ensure no one else had to experience that hardship.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only is she breaking that cycle that she was involved in, but she\u2019s ensuring she\u2019s seeding for the future \u2014 she\u2019s got her three kids involved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The show renovated her home and expanded her kitchen and storage space so she could be more comfortable cooking and hosting large dinners there.<\/p>\n
Her story is an example of how there\u2019s something \u201creally special\u201d about the people in Port Alberni, said Bryan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve really kind of locked into community and they\u2019re like, \u2018OK, there\u2019s a problem here. Nobody\u2019s going to knock on the door and fix it, so let\u2019s go fix it,\u2019 \u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The duo\u2019s adventure in television renovations started 21 years ago, when Bryan reached out to HGTV when it was owned by Alliance Atlantis and offered free construction labour in exchange for advertising for his construction company, Baeumler Quality Construction.<\/p>\n
They soon offered him his own show, Disaster DIY, which debuted in 2007.<\/p>\n
Fast forward more than a dozen shows and hundreds of episodes, and the duo got a call to meet with the content team at HGTV, who told them Home Town Takeover was coming\u00a0to Canada and asked if they would be the hosts.<\/p>\n
In the first episode, Bryan describes the Port Alberni makeover as \u201cthe biggest project of our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the challenges was simply getting all of the work done within 12 weeks, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a real nightmare trying to keep everything on schedule and on budget with production standing on top of you.\u201d<\/p>\n