EXCERPT:
No surprise then that the consultant’s final tally is about $18 million to get the job done—too rich for anyone’s blood, and leading some to conclude the wrecking ball is the only option.
Asked what he thought of assessing the Massey in this way, Frank Durante, the City of New Westminster’s manager of building inspections, called it “odd.”
“They say you can skew numbers to your benefit no matter what,” he told me. “Comparing to a new building, obviously nothing would comply.”
As the man in charge of ensuring the city’s buildings are safe and sound, Durante has no issues with the Massey. There are no orders requiring work from him.
“Most buildings are built to survive 50 years, but we have a lot of buildings older than that,” he said. “If it’s sealed and watertight, there’s no reason it can’t go on.”
Jim Alkins, the project manager for the school construction program, has pinpointed the Massey site as ideal for the new high school, but said the Mercer Stadium site is the second choice.
That, along with the cemetery land under NWSS, forms the basis of a current discussion between the school district and the city about a land swap.
If the city takes over the Massey, it’s important to note that the theatre doesn’t need $18 million in upgrades today, or anytime soon.
And like me with my old house, it’s unlikely anyone involved is going to have the cash, time, or audacity to try to turn back the clock and make it new once again.
[COMMENT: Jim Alkins is not an elected official. He is hired to oversee the building of the school. It is the duty of elected officials to act as caretakers of our civic assets for future generations. An asset such as the Massey theatre should be discussed as a public good, not as a property asset of one level of government or another. All levels of government are responsible to work together to represent the will of the people.]
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