Who loves and who hates the downtown core plan?
And a new campaign tries to convince PG residents to stay in B.C. Read to the end for a cool McDonald's PlayPlace
Reactions continue to pour in to the newly approved civic core plan.
Who’s excited? The city is, in their official release:
Director of Planning and Development, Deanna Wasnik, emphasized the significance of this decision: “Council’s choice of a concept plan and their direction to move forward with detailed design work is an exciting step toward revitalizing our civic core. This plan reflects the priorities and aspirations shared by the community, while providing a framework for sustainable, phased development.”
The Civic Core District Plan aligns with Council’s strategic priorities to enhance downtown vibrancy, improve quality of life for residents, and foster economic growth.
Next Steps:
Administration will now proceed with technical studies and site planning, ensuring the City is well-positioned for future development and investment opportunities.
This will determine a roadmap for the next step to identify future public and user group engagement. Staff will return to council in 2025 with more details on the plan including details of each facility, economic analysis, a timeline, and financial information.
Who isn’t? The top comments on Facebook, mostly from people who didn’t read the part about next steps and are wondering how we’re going to pay for this right now (answer: we aren’t).
Other top comments are wondering where is the parking?? to which the city is explaining that the parking analysis is in the next phase.
Also not excited, as previously repoted: the Spruce Kings, worrying about potentially being homeless for a while sometime in the future (again, the actual details have yet to be ironed out).
Excited? The city’s major arts groups… but also the Spruce Kings, included in the release?
The Community Arts Council of Prince George & District, Prince George Symphony Orchestra, Theatre NorthWest, Prince George Folkfest Society and the Prince George Spruce Kings were all very pleased that City Council approved direction for City Administration to begin work on detailed plans for new civic facilities at Monday night’s Council meeting.
The five groups have been collaboratively advocating for these new facilities for many years and are keen to see movement on this file.
We believe there are a number of important considerations that should inform next steps, including:
Providing clarity on the intended use and design of the identified Performing Arts Centre. There are unanswered questions related to the scope and end use of this Centre, including its footprint in a space also intended to support a hotel/multi-use complex.
Identifying the potential for including a mid-sized theatre component within the Performing Arts Centre as there will always remain the need for a theatre accommodating around 300 people.
Engaging with the Spruce Kings and all user-groups of the Kopar Memorial Arena to ensure these organizations are supported during the re-construction phase of the project.
Demonstrating how the Performing Arts Centre may also be a component of a Convention Space to accommodate events and conferences. This would have a hugely positive impact on downtown economic revitalization.
Ensuring that the budget for the planning process is adequate. Examples of recent and similar planning projects from other communities indicate a need to identify a clear budget that will satisfactorily accomplish the required results of the planning project.
Confirming that the parking needs for these new facilities, the current social issues that are facing our downtown core, and future operational budgets that will be required to support these facilities are thoughtfully addressed so that the facilities remain affordable and accessible to local users.
The groups encourage fostering collaboration in a way similar to the City of Kamloops, with advisory teams, comprised of local experts in their fields assisting municipal government through the complex planning process for this major civic capital project. Community engagement is essential prior to the project going to a city-wide referendum.
To this end, we hope that Prince George City Council will very soon re-visit the downtown civic core plan presented this past Monday and provide clear direction on the expectations and requirements they wish to see in the planning process, including presenting a clear timeline and work plan, with noted public engagement throughout the project.
Lastly, like all other community members, we will remain vigilant about ensuring local tax dollars are spent wisely. Thus, we would like to have clarity about the planning process, and what exactly is being planned.
Again, congratulations to our current City Council members for making some initial bold decisions on Monday. Let’s not skip a beat now in getting down to the hard work of beginning a meaningful and effective planning process that builds grass roots support for what will surely be one of the City’s biggest capital and community-building projects in a lifetime.
News roundup:
Still not getting parcels? PG-area postal workers frustrated by lack of scheduled trucks to alleviate parcel backlog.
Prince George gas station robbery leads to crash, three arrests.
Bus the North: The region-wide public transportation network that is connecting northern B.C.
Care packages donated to those in need for the holidays in Prince George.
Central B.C. Railway and Forestry Museum hosts celebration of lights.
Trying out the new PlayPlace at McDonald’s (honestly, watch this. PlayPlace’s have changed!!)
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Send feedback by emailing northerncapitalnews@gmail.com. Find me online at akurjata.ca.
Gosh I'd love an adult-scale playplace - sometimes I just wanna indulge my inner 7-year-old and scramble through a structure!
As one of the BC to AB losses, I would’ve loved to stay in PG! Bus stop ads don’t help the lack of jobs for young professionals in so many fields.