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THE CHANGING CITY
A bridge too close By Theresa McManus
tmcmanus@newwestrecord.ca
Some Quayside residents are fearful their beautiful views of the Fraser River could be obliterated by the proposed Q2Q pedestrian bridge. Brian Gibson is among the residents who are concerned that a tower with an elevator at its core and a spiral staircase wrapping around that structure could be erected in front of his waterfront home as part of the Q2Q crossing. “It’s quite unjust,” he said. Gibson estimates the tower would be about 50 feet away from his window, but it’s even closer for one of his neighbours. “Certain individuals are dumbfounded that it could even be considered,” he told the Record. “My immediate neighbour, … he (potentially) has folks looking into his window that are coming down the stairwell around this tower.” A number of Lido residents attended the Quayside Community Board’s recent annual general meeting to make their concerns known to city officials attending the meeting. “It’s just wrong,” Gibson said. Continued on page 9
ROOM WITH A VIEW During the 20 years Brian and Nolan Gibson have lived at Westminster Quay they’ve enjoyed their view of the Fraser River. They’re concerned that view could be destroyed by the proposed Q2Q pedestrian and bicycle crossing from the Quay to Queensborough. PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
Seismic upgrades top district’s wish-list By Cornelia Naylor
cnaylor@newwestrecord.ca
Seismic upgrades at three elementary schools top the New Westminster school district’s five-year capital plan approved by the board of education recently. The plan – a wish-list of building projects districts submit to the provincial education ministry every year – has a $4-million seismic upgrade at F.W. Howay Elementary at the top of the list, followed by a $18-mil-
lion upgrade at Richard McBride Elementary and a $1.25-million upgrade at Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary. The project at Howay, where the singlestorey classroom block was assessed in 2013 as “vulnerable” and at high risk of widespread damage or structural failure during an earthquake, was supported in principle by the ministry in 2013, but funding has yet to be approved. McBride, where the 1929 classroom and gymnasium blocks have both been assessed
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at high risk of structural failure during an earthquake, was also supported in 2013 and has also yet to be funded. Tweedsmuir, meanwhile, is currently assessed to be at low risk of damage during an earthquake. The local school most vulnerable to damage in an earthquake – New Westminster Secondary – where most of the building has been assessed at the highest risk of widespread damage or structural failure during a quake, is not in the district’s five-year plan
because a replacement of the school has already been approved by the ministry, according to district secretary-treasurer Kevin Lorenz. “We haven’t got funding yet,” he said, “but the ministry is putting the proposal forward to treasury board for funding, so when the ministry says, ‘Yes we support it,’ it comes off the list.” Lorenz said the ministry doesn’t share the Continued on page 8
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