It’s boarded up and abandoned, but the Inn at Westview refuses to be forgotten.
The dilapidated building located next to Town Centre Mall, the anchor of Powell River’s commercial district, continues to draw the ire of the community and harsh words at city hall. Since being boarded up over a decade ago, there has been much talk about what should be done with the building. Lots of talk; little action. But that might soon change.
“It looks awful,” said Westview resident Perry Vestering. “The roof is caving in; that’s not a safe thing. It’s not being looked after or dealt with as it should be.”
City of Powell River mayor Dave Formosa said in his time as mayor the former inn is one of the constant issues he hears public concerns on.
“It’s one of the biggest things plaguing my administration,” said Formosa. “I receive lots of complaints about the building and I’d like to see something done.”
City chief administrative officer Mac Fraser presented to city council last June that he has been working on various solutions over the past year to deal with the problem of the derelict building. The city is seeking a net-zero cost solution. According to BC Assessment, the building and
property’s value has been assessed at $326,000.Despite being boarded up, the building is in such rough shape that Powell River Fire Rescue chief Terry Peters has told his firefighters they are not permitted to enter.
“It’s a non-entry for us because of the hazards within,” said Peters. “There’s potential for structural collapse, the floors are sponge-like, and the roof has given way.”
Not to mention the toxic mould, he said. “It’s absolutely not habitable for health reasons,” said Peters. “That’s why it’s locked up.”
Vesterling, who used to work at the inn years ago, said he expects the city to push the building’s owners to rectify the situation.
“The city should make the people who own this be responsible for it,” he said. “It’s definitely an eyesore, but now it’s becoming unsafe.”
The owner of the building is Seaboard Hotels, a company based in Kelowna that also owns Powell River’s Beach Gardens Resort and Marina. Powell River Chamber of Commerce president Jack Barr’s management company, American Investments, looks after the property on behalf of Seaboard.
Now large potholes in the inn’s parking lot and reports of rats in the building have added to the problem of the eyesore.
American Investments has been in discussion with the owners of the Westview Plaza, the nearby strip mall, to find a solution but one has not been reached so far.
According to Barr, businesses at the plaza rely on parking in the inn’s lot, but the owner of the strip mall, a real estate company in Vancouver, is not willing to help pay for maintenance of the lot.
“Our position is that if Westview Plaza needs to use that for parking it really should be their responsibility to look after the maintenance of that lot,” said Barr.
As far as demolishing the building goes, Barr said it would take about $500,000 to take the inn down.
“We know it’s an issue in town and we do want to deal with it, but it’s all about the money,” said Barr.
The presence of asbestos in the sheetrock and the need to have demolition waste transported out of Powell River to a licensed landfill site further complicates the demolition and adds to the expense, he said.
Barr said, he would deal with the building tomorrow if he could, but the issue is no one is willing to buy the property, pay for the demolition and build new construction on the site, he said.
“No one has a half a million just sitting around,” said Barr. “There’s a lot of variables and we’re hoping that at some point we can come to a solution.”
He added that much of the local work he does to promote tourism on the Sunshine Coast, his work with the chamber and as an advocate for the community for ferry fairness, comes from a place of wanting to see the local economy pick up again.
“Until such time as the city’s economy has turned around and there is renewed interest in the downtown core to start development, we just have to find an affordable way to make things work and keep everyone happy,” he said. “That’s what we are trying to do.”
But some residents and visitors are unhappy a solution to the problem is not coming faster and abandoned buildings can have an impact on new development.
“I’m sure when visitors come here and see that it doesn’t give a good portrayal of what the city is about,” said Tsawwassen resident Margo Peterson, who was born and raised in Powell River and still owns property near Black Point. “It’s an eyesore and it looks like it should be demolished. It’s a shame to have something like that in the middle of the town.”
According to Formosa, Barr met with the mayor last week and talked about some potential solutions that would reduce the cost of the demolition, potentially speeding up the timelines.
Formosa said there may be alternatives to having to ship the building demolition out of town and that it would be worth sitting down with Catalyst Paper Corporation vice-president and Powell River mill general manager Fred Chinn to talk about seeing if the company would permit use of its landfill, licensed for construction and demolition waste.
“Maybe they would just do it as a community service,” said Formosa. “The Town Centre Mall owners are generous people who give to all kinds of local non-profits. They have a lot invested in this community.”
The mayor added that he has even been talking to a local demolition contractor who has the know-how to take the building down safely.
“I asked him if he would be able to go in there and do the job for cost plus a little bit,” said Formosa. “We have started these conversations.”
Formosa added that city administration is still looking at financial options where Seaboard is offered a five-year loan at municipal lending rates to take the building down. In turn, the city holds onto the property as collateral until the loan is paid off, he said.
Barr said he is happy to explore these ideas and meet for further talks with the city in September.
