Proposed condo development offers dramatic shift to downtown housing options

A proposed condo development for First Avenue West is certainly destined to become a popular conversation topic, with a photo presentation currently up for review that provides a stunning look at the footprint that the housing project would offer to the city's waterfront skyline.

The project which was introduced to Prince Rupert City Council on Monday night, and if approved for development, would be located in the lot directly across from the Harbour View apartments sweeping along the First Avenue West area and down along Bill Murray Way.

With Monday's City Council session suffering electronic gremlins, the presentation to Council (as well as the entire Council broadcast) was along the lines of a silent movie, leaving viewers at home with no audio to hear the finer points of the proposed development.

Councillor Blair Mirau however is helping to fill in some of the gaps from those electronic troubles, posting the photo found below to his Facebook page on Wednesday, providing some of the background to the project and asking for input from the community as to what they think of the proposed development.

Conceptual sketch of a proposed condo and commercial
development for 1st Avenue West across from Chances.
(photo from Coun. Blair Mirau's Facebook page)

The project, was outlined for Council by a group appearing at the Monday evening session,  with Jeremy Towning, Vice President and Franz Gehriger the CEO of the SwissReal Group out of Vancouver, along with Frank and Cynthia Pyde, listed as Owners/Parners in the condo and commercial development.

In the presentation Mr. Gehriger provided the background to the project which would provide for 80 units in seven storeys and dominate the waterfront vista in the area directly across from Chances and the North Coast Convention Centre.

The water side view would be one that takes full advantage of the Prince Rupert harbour view, while the city side faces onto a large open space that also features a secondary structure that would change our impression of that end of 1st Avenue West significantly.

Considering the lack of any large scale residential or commercial development in the city in recent years, the proposed development would make for a remarkable shift in focus for the downtown core and perhaps offer up the start of a bit of a rebirth in the long dormant area.

The Vancouver based real estate company has been involved in a number of impressive large scale developments in other British Columbia communities, you can review some of them here.

Those interested in offering their comments to the Councillor can provide them through the comments section of his Facebook page here.

For more items related to discussions at Prince Rupert City Council see our archive page here.

Further background on housing issues can be found here, while notes on commercial developments in the Northwest can be reviewed here.

About the City Council Timeline for Monday, June 22, 2015

Regular blog readers looking for the usual comprehensive update of our City Council coverage are going to be a little disappointed this week, as it appears that electronic gremlins have laid waste to City Council's audio-visual review of Monday evening's Council session, with the evening's work recreating the era of the silent movie.

The live broadcast of Monday was plagued by a lack of audio, leaving the viewer at home to try and determine what items of interest were up for discussion at any given time and leaving any interpretation as to what they might be talking about to be foolish at best.

The problems it would seem were beyond just the signal going out of the Council chamber, the City's You Tube page, which archives the Council sessions has yet to provide a version for Monday evening, something that is usually delivered within 24 hours of the session's conclusion and would seem to indicate that the problems were somewhat more complicated.

Leaving Monday evening we imagine to be lost to the atmosphere, an unfortunate thing considering the volume of work that Council tackled on the night and what appears to be a fair bit of interest in a few of the evening's topics from the Agenda.

As for our timeline feature, considering the main focus of the project has been to to tie the events of Council to the video, this week's presentation is one that won't be available as we would normally deliver.

As the week wraps up, we shall try and piece together some of the notes from Council, adding whatever we discover to the previous notes on this weeks Council session found on our City Council Session Archive page here.

Hopefully, the technical issues will be resolved (and maybe even explained) by the time Council gathers again, allowing for the full review of the public portions of City Council's efforts.

In the end, the best record of Council's work, is one that allows for the full unfiltered review, with their own contributions as the conduit of the night's affairs.

Should the technical department at City Hall find a solution to the missing audio content and post the Council Session to the City's YouTube portal, we will of course revisit Monday evening and offer up the regular score of observations.

For more items related to City Council discussions see our archive page here.

RCMP look to accentuate (and reward) the Positives when it comes to road safety on city streets

Summer and the end of school bring
more longboards, skateboards,
cyclists and roller bladders to
city streets

With the arrival of the warmer weather and the end of the school year comes the annual parade of skateboarders, cyclists and roller blade enthusiasts, many of them transiting along city streets.

A new initiative from the Prince Rupert Detachment will see members of the RCMP ramping up their enforcement, introducing a "positive ticketing" program that will reward those who exhibit safe behaviour with either a pool/gym pass provided by the City of Prince Rupert, or a Slurpee courtesy of the city's 7-11 store on 2nd Avenue West.

“We believe that this initiative will be well received by the community, and will help to bridge gaps between law enforcement and young people. In turn it will assist in creating an environment focused on road safety education ... While we are excited about issuing positive tickets we will also be increasing enforcement action for those who choose not to comply.” -- Constable Matt Ericson, Prince Rupert RCMP outlining an new initiative from the local detachment to encourage safety on the streets

Road Safety, particularly when it comes to skateboards, longboards, cyclists and those on roller blades made for much attention from City Council over the last few years, some of those notes can be found below.

February 2014 -- Prince Rupert Council to introduce Helmet by-law at Council session tonight
February 2014 -- City Council moves forward on Helmet By-law
September 2013 -- Skateboard and Longboard clinic set for next Friday
July 2013 -- Skate boarding youth raise concerns for City Council

It's hoped that some of those initiatives and some of the community work that the RCMP engaged in over the last year will provide for safer streets for all in the city this summer.

You can review the full announcement of the Positive Ticketing Program here.

For more items related to Emergency Services in the North West see our archive page here.

Pacific NorthWest LNG outlines background to involvement with trades training programs

In the latest of a number of community engagement video presentations, Pacific NorthWest LNG has provided a short overview of the trades opportunities in the community that the energy proponent is contributing funding towards.

A focus on developing skills through welding, millwright and electrical programs offered in Prince Rupert is part of the two minute presentation.

The video traces some of the background to the Coastal Pathways Program, a portion of which receives funding from Pacific NorthWest LNG and other industrial proponents in the region.

Anne Rowse, the Western Regional Director for NorthWest Community College provides the short sketch of the cooperation between the college, School District and local industry and the benefits that the program offers local students.

Highlighting as well, the opportunity that local trades training presents for them to start their careers in their own hometown, allowing them to remain on the North Coast once they have their trades certification.

A look at some of the trades training opportunities through NWCC can be reviewed here.

The education overview can be found below, other videos in the series can be found on the Pacific NorthWest LNG Facebook page.



For more items related to Pacific NorthWest LNG see our archive page here, further background on education on the North Coast can be found here.

RCMP provide additional background and continue to seek assistance in Vehicle Fire investigation

A Monday afternoon media conference
provided background on a string of
recent vehicle fires in the city

Prince Rupert City Hall was the setting for a media conference earlier this week, with representatives of the RCMP, Fire Department and Mayor Lee Brain outlining some of the background to a string of fires that have taken place in the community over the last seven days.

Constable Matt Ericson handled the bulk of the commentary on the nature of the investigation, providing a short overview of the recent fires, noting that while they haven't tied the fires together at this time,  there are similarities related to the fires.

Of the most recent incident, the RCMP are particularly interested in witness statements that advised that two males were seen running from the area of the Four Winds Apartments, though the descriptions provided didn't offer up much detail, other than one of those fleeing the area was not wearing a shirt.

The Prince Rupert Detachment's General Investigation Section is handling the case file and actively pursuing leads to the incidents in question, Constable Ericson further asked for the assistance of the public, particularly if anyone may have video surveillance of photo evidence from the areas where the offences occurred.

As well, the RCMP asked that if anyone in the area notices suspicious activity in their neighbourhood to contact the RCMP immediately.

Prince Rupert Fire Rescue Chief Dave McKenzie also spoke at the media session, asking that people secure their immediate areas around their house, locking up such items as gasoline or fuel located in open areas, locking cars and removing any potential items that could possibly be used to start a fire.

The Mayor also made a few observations related to the recent incidents and reinforced that all information should be relayed through the RCMP or Crime Stoppers.

During the course of the question and answer portion of the media conference, Constable Ericson noted that they could not at this moment reveal the nature of the source of the fires as it could jeopardize the investigation.

As for suspects, the RCMP is in the process of following up on leads that have been provided to them. Constable Ericson added that while they can't link the fires together at this moment, they are confident in saying that each of the fires under investigation share similarities.

Chief McKenzie provided further background on the Four Winds fire call, advising that it resulted in serious damage to the structure, including heavy smoke damage to all three floors of the building. During the course of the evacuation, a number of the residents were assessed by BC Ambulance for Smoke inhalation concerns.

The most recent fires of the last week are not believed to be connected to a previous suspicious fire on 11th Avenue from April.

The full media presentation was made available on the CityWest Channel 10 website, you can review it below.





Those with any information related to the case files currently under investigation can contact the RCMP at 250-627-0700  or through CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477

You can review more background on the recent incidents from our Emergency Services archive page here.

Northwest a featured attraction in most recent edition of BC Ferries magazine "Onboard"

The Northwest gets a close up feature this month in the magazine that travellers onboard BC Ferries can pick up as they board any of the fleet's ships this month.

The magazine "onBoard" which is available for free for travellers on all routes of the service highlights some of the attractions to be found for those exploring the northwest region of the province.

The three page overview comes from local writer Bruce Wishart, who has some familiarity with tourism in the region from his previous time with Tourism Prince Rupert.

For the BC Ferries publication, the free lance writer provides a glimpse of some of the history of the area, along with notes on attractions across the Northwest and beyond that visitors may find of interest.

Two of Prince Rupert's most popular destination spots receive a short thumbnail sketch, with the Museum of Northern British Columbia and the North Pacific Cannery Historical Site in Port Edward both featured as sure to visit spots in the region.

Further down Highway 16, stops in Old Hazelton, Smithers and McBride are also noted as of interest for travellers, as is a side trip into Barkerville for those taking the Great Circle route of exploration for this summer.

You can review Wishart's travel planning guidelines here.

Or pick up your own personal copy should you find yourself on one of the BC Ferries over the next month or so.

More background on items of interest from BC Ferries can be found here, while items on Tourism options in the region can be reviewed here.

Diversity and Desserts the theme tonight at NWCC

An opportunity to sample the sweet treats of the world is yours this evening, as the North Coast Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society hosts "Sweets From Around the World", part of their Diversity Week celebrations in the lead up to Canada Day on July 1st.

Tonight's event is taking place at the Multi-purpose Room of the college and will feature a cross section of the dessert samplings that Immigrants have brought with them as they settle into their lives in Canada.

The sampling session starts at 7 PM and continues on until 8:30 PM.

Those looking to experience the sweets of the world need only bring an appetite, tonight's event is free for all.

You can learn more about the Society from their website here and a review of some of their past activities in the community can be found on their Facebook page.