It was a time to celebrate for the team and supporters of the Sea to Sky Gondola on Thursday (Jan. 24).

Inside their brand new office in Downtown Squamish, organizers toasted the project and thanked invited community members for their support.

“It's very exciting,” said David Greenfield, one of the principals of gondola team. “The view never fails to amaze me but it wasn't until a few years ago that we realized that 500,000 people stop at Shannon Falls and the Chief and we thought, 'What can we do with that?'”

Greenfield said that realization led him to help put the gondola project forward.

“Three years ago we started working on it and I believe this project will satisfy the need for people to stop in Squamish,” he said.

Those attending the open house got to take a look at designs of the gondola and parking plans for the facility. According to one of the maps, there will be space for a total of 307 vehicles. Greenfield said support for the gondola from Squamish residents has been overwhelming.

“We knew going into this if we had the support of the community, we knew we could get this going,” he said. “We came to the community, proposed our idea and they came through and offered their support to us.”

Trevor Dunn, another project principal, agreed with Greenfield.

“When I arrived here I couldn't believe how the community came in and helped transform our ideas,” he said. “This community is so engaged in what's going on and have so much knowledge in outdoor recreation. This never would have happened if the community hadn't come through with their support.”

A brief video was shown highlighting Squamish and the gondola following the remarks from Dunn and Greenfield. Construction is tentatively set to begin in March, with a planned May 2014 opening. For more information on the project, visit www.seatoskygondola.com.