WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 24 2016
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Brockton outdoor seat fosters friendship
Capilano’s Bogajev was born on a hot streak
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NORTHSHORENEWS
LOCAL NEWS . LOCAL MATTERS . SINCE 1969
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Intruders bear-spray homeowner in Seymour break-in MARIA SPITALE-LEISK mspitale-leisk@nsnews.com
A North Vancouver man is shaken up after being blasted with bear spray as he surprised a pair of intruders hiding in his bedroom.
WHEEL FUN Grade 2 student Sammy Cowley wheels across the gym floor during the Jump Rope For Heart event Feb. 19 at Collingwood School. Students participated in a number of jump rope and skipping games in support of the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation. See more photos page 18. PHOTO MIKE WAKEFIELD
The botched burglary happened around 4 p.m. on Feb. 16 in the 2000-block of Seymour Boulevard, according to North Vancouver RCMP. The victim had just returned home and went to open the bedroom door when he was hit with the noxious substance. Temporarily blinded by the bear spray, the approximately 60-year-old victim stumbled out the door and ran towards the pool house on his property to flush out his eyes. He then sought help from his neighbours and while walking across the street caught a glimpse of the assailants as they ran past him towards their car.
See Intruders page 7
Wrecking ball looms for historic hospital JUSTIN BEDDALL jbeddall@nsnews.com
A demolition permit has been approved for North Vancouver General Hospital, a heritage structure on East 13th Street that was built in 1929.
On Monday, City of North Van council voted 4-2 in favour of a request from Vancouver Coastal Health to demolish the building, known as the Activation Building, as part of its Lions Gate Hospital master plan, which calls for significant growth and redevelopment over the next two decades as a regional trauma centre and teaching hospital. NVGH was the third hospital built in North Vancouver and
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City OKs demolition of Activation Building at LGH the first building to go up at the current Lions Gate Hospital site. Since the completion of the $62-million HOpe Centre in 2014, the decaying building has sat vacant and no longer meets public care standards. According to VCH it would cost up to $50 million to fully upgrade the Activation Building – a price tag that does not include the cost of preserving the heritage elements of the
building. Both city council and the North Shore Heritage Preservation Society initially favoured preserving the heritage facade of the structure, which is classified as a Category A Heritage Building. Understanding its historical significance, VCH had a structural engineer look into the possibility of keeping the historic facade. To do so would cost more than $3 million, but according to Mike Nader, CEO of Vancouver Coastal Health Community Care, the biggest concern in retaining the facade was the constraints it would have on future redevelopment at
See Metro page 7
Bad Driver Award #177: Future Hood Ornament Tuned-out pedestrians like Hugo bring us careful drivers like you. So watch out for guys like him (and never be one yourself)! And when you do need collision repair, remember BC’s favourite, Craftsman Collision. ®™ Trademark of AIR MILES International Trading B.V. Used under licence by LoyaltyOne, Inc. and Craftsman Collision Ltd.
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