Dear editor,
Just some of my opinions and comments about some recent structural changes in the Valley, both new and used.
1. Courtenay City Hall. Full marks. Looks amazing. Well done. My only criticism would be the line fed to the taxpayers that the $500,000 was needed to upgrade the building to make it attractive to a future buyer.
Future buyer? Who would ever buy that building and for what purpose? Slim to none are the chances of anyone ever wanting to buy a used City Hall. However, that is a moot point as the building now stands as something the citizens of Courtenay can be proud of.
2. New Visitor Information Centre. Uniquely odd design. Probably really cool inside. Too bad the access is so dreadful that it won’t be used anywhere near its potential. The landscape lends itself perfectly for direct highway access with on and off merge lanes, however the building design faces the opposite way. Department of Highways probably had something to do with not allowing something that would increase the buildings use considerably.
3. Gas N Go on the Dyke Road. As against this project as some still are or were, you have to admit the site looks considerably better than it did before. At least there is some grass, gardens, natural wood and stone incorporated as opposed to the techno-modern Petro-Can florescent glow-you-can-see-from-space ugliness that could have been put there.
4. New French school in Comox. Drove down Noel Avenue last night and thought a BC Ferry had parked behind the Comox Firehall. There were so many lights on in that building it was ridiculous. It was 10 p.m. The parking lot was empty. Glad I am not paying the power bill — oh, wait — yes, I am. (We are.)
But I am sure the citizens of Quebec don’t mind paying for the power in the English-only schools in their province — oh, wait — to my knowledge, those don’t exist.
The building seems excessively and unnecessarily elaborate for its intended purpose. The money spent on its over-the-top construction and inevitable ongoing maintenance could have been better spent serving the educational needs of the students in a smaller venue. Beautiful building, mind you, but considering the rather small number of patrons it just doesn’t make much financial sense to me.
5. New Thrifty Foods plaza. Dreadful and somewhat sad. Pave paradise and put up a parking lot. Jury is still out on this one as it isn’t complete but it looks like it’s going to be like every other corner in any other city in any other place in North America. The nearby college and swimming pool was built amongst the trees so I don’t buy that some of those trees could not have been saved.
Danger to hydro lines? Hardly. Those overhead wires will all be underground anyway.
Steve Hawkins,
Comox
