Thought it was worthy of a thread for the record to note that with the Provincial Government pulling out of its $30 million contribution for construction of the National Maritime Centre at the foot of Lonsdale the project is, for all intents and purposes, dead!
From today's North Shore Outlook:
On Monday night City of North Vancouver council released a letter from the province which stated it cannot find the funding for the project “now or in the foreseeable future.”
The federal government had committed funding, but without the province taking part Mussatto said the project is dead.
“It was critical we had their money and their support,” Mussatto said. “The city cannot go it alone. The city cannot leverage the federal government for money to do what we had planned.”
That $30-million price tag was just too much for the province, said Naomi Yamamoto, MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale.
“It’s not that the business case wasn’t valid,” she told The Outlook. “The project has been brought to the attention of various ministers. Everybody has been trying to make this work.”
For the complete story check out the North Shore Outlook (January 14, 2010).
33 opinions/comments:
It's a crying shame! :(
Maybe, but maybe not. How about inviting the Cannery Restaurant to North Vancouver. They are closing soon and say they can't find a suitable waterfront location. Well, have I got a deal for them...
Anyway, that chopped off part-hull of a ship looks goofy!
Hmm...guess Mussatto's sucking up to Campbell didn't pay off like he thought it would!
Well I'm glad the feds were at the table, another example of Saxton getting things done. The same cant be said of yamamoto, you would think being at the cabinet table might help her gain some leverage.
Mussatto and Keating spending so much money and the amount they paid for lobbyist jennifer clarke is shamefull
where are they going to put all those wonderful murals that was decorating City Hall to try and brainwash us that the Maritime Museum was coming go North Vancouver?
What a big hoax just to sell the real estate on the waterfront.
Only someone very stupid would believe that the Maritime Museum was really going to come to North Vancouver
Who thinks it will cost $5 mil to get rid of that stupid hunk of ship that has been an eyesore down there for the past few years....
How much money did Jennifer Clarke pick up in consulting fees on this? What a fiasco!!!
This is an epic fail for so many parties, but most of all Gordon Campbell and Naomi Yamamoto!
How can Lower Lonsdale's own fail so miserably on a project impacting her own neighbourhood!
This is a death blow for the neighbourhood. It will now be overrun with drugs, crime and vagrancy.
Oh wait... it already is!!!
I heard they were going to build a 40-storey sewage treatment facility in its place, promising local residents an improved view and jobs, jobs, jobs for the North Shore economy.
Well, I for one want to give a standing ovation to one Darrell Mussatto for doing everything humanly possible to save this project.
Darrell, the Centre is dead, but your legacy of giving it your all for the North Van community lives on. Thank you.
By the way, is it ethical for the BC Liberals to withdraw $30 million that they already committed?
At this juncture, there is only one man who can save this project, and that is DON BELL.
Chant along, everyone: DON DON DON DON DON DON !!!
Barf!
I agree with the previous poster. We need Don Bell back in North Van political life to save this community from social and economic ruin. Ever since he left, things have been going down the tubes. Crime is up, and the Maritime Centre is down.
I echo the return of "The Don".
and I repeat:
DON DON DON DON DON DON DON DON !!!
Don is old tired injured and long past his prime, most suited for weak tea and easy to digest cookies than any real work.
Thank you Gordon Campbell for the saving the City of North Vancouver millions of dollars every year that we would be subsidizing this boondoggle.
Barry, how did you miss the real story from the Outlook; the in Chambers fight between Bookham and Mussatto. Bookham leaves in protest then Darryl completely loses his composure and shouts down Guy when Guy calls Darryl on his conduct.
How long before the council completely implodes...
Last post, that is the question of the decade. What can we do to hurry the implosion before the bullying tactics and lack of consultation further damage CNV. The mayor is a disgrace, including his two cohorts. Imagine the Council rep of the Heritage Adv Committee voting to demolish a heritage building. Shameful.
Bring back the wicked witch, at least she didn't pretend to be nice.
Meanwhile just this week Surrey gets $10 million for their new library.
Guess that's the difference between having senior cabinet ministers and rookie MLAs eh?
Given the social services program cuts both through Vancouver Coastal Health (you might want to ask West Coast Alternatives about that one!), the gaming grants and Victoria directly that one REALLY p***es me off!
As most of you know I'm a big fan of strong library systems (and have put my money where my mouth is) but new building construction is discretionary and when other things are being cut it seems inexplicable except in terms of raw power.
Dumping money in a library is a waste of money. Why go to the library for a book when it should be downloadable in electronic format.
Anon 12:02:00 PM, Libraries are about a lot more than just books. Have you been to one lately?
Yes Libraries are doing a lot of things that they should not. They've become videostores, etc. Of course, being staffed with expensive civil servants they are part of the problem of high taxes and the reason why people can't afford to live here.
One of the only places on the North Shore that allows you to surf kiddie porn
They should set up an area for a safe injection site at the library. I understand that the library budget is based on patron visits?
Maybe they'll sell it to some other sucker but only get 10 cents on the dollar.
Not to mention all the costs of storing things that will need to be tossed away.
Gives me such satisfaction to know that my tax dollars are going toward providing porn for perverts and pedophiles at the library...NOT!!!!!
Can the library be sued if a patron uses the free internet services to launch illegal activities?
I support libraries - and with more than just words - but $10 million for Surrey while we're closing facilities seems out of proportion.
Let District taxpayers remember that we got $2 million from Ottawa and $0 from Victoria the last time WE built a library. (And got a million apiece from each when the Capilano library got its seismic upgrades)
Jane and Naomi - what have you done for us lately? I know you are new in office but Saxton's not much longer in office and Ottawa was willing to contribute to the Maritime centre. You two haven't been in office long but you've simply got to do better for North Vancouver than Dan and Katherine.
And that goes double for the social service cuts that are going to lead to Councillor Nixon's proposal tomorrow night.
It's apples and oranges Lyle.
The provincial budget is in serious trouble prior to the recession. The feds got into deficit because of the recession.
Had the province focused on the deficit and paying down the debt incurred by 10 of NDP, they would have had the money to waste on the maritime museum.
Sorry - the Campbell government has been in power long enough that invoking the NDP doesn't cut it with me anymore.
I'm well aware that the economy is less than ideal - my sales were down about 5% last year too.
But at some point we've got to look at which projects are going ahead and which aren't and in what ridings the winners and losers are. Don't tell me there isn't a strong correlation - not if you expect to retain credibility at all.
The North Shore has been taken for granted by our provincial government far too long - I am completely convinced that the social service cuts we've seen (which to my mind are worse than the Maritime Centre which is pretty bad) would never have occured had they been in Surrey generally or Cloverdale in particular.
With respect to the provincial government I've been close to Howard Beale mode for some time.
Dear Lyle,
I think you're right in your last post but as a matter of raw power I think it's safe to assume whomever is leading the Center-Right Coalition [Socred, BC Lib]will always say to themselves, "No matter what we do, no matter how negatively it effects the NS, they'll always vote for us." WAC Bennett used to call WV, "the silk stocking district."
If there were a credible BC Wild Rose Party I'd be thinking seriously about them...
For the good of the party (and BC) Campbell can't lead his party in the next election!
Don who?
Jeez - I actually forgot about him!
Shame about the museum - real shame actually. But maybe this is a financial kick in the pants - a needed one. And maybe it'll come back as a properly scaled (and costed) project??
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