A newly opened White Rock business that “lost everything” in last spring’s Five Corners fire reopens today.
Puretone Hearing Clinic was two weeks into operation when a fire ripped through an under-construction condominium in the Five Corners district last May 15, leaving nearly 100 neighbours of the Ocean Ridge building homeless and destroying the businesses premises below them.
“It was brand new, everything was brand new. We were one of the ones who lost so much… it was very rough,” said Puretone Hearing Clinic owner Syed Ullah.
Last August, Peace Arch News reported that Puretone Hearing Clinic was still searching for a location to reopen in the area.
PrimeTime Living, the developers behind a $92-million private medical centre and residential facility being built in nearby South Surrey – in the 15200-block of 16 Avenue – saw the PAN story and reached out to Ullah.
“I live on 156A Street, I’m in the community,” said Judy Freeman, CEO of PrimeTime Living.
“I… saw this in the paper. Actually, a partner of mine pulled it up and said, ‘did you see the hearing centre has been put out of business? Perhaps we should reach them.’”
Ullah said he’d been struggling to find a space in the South Surrey/White Rock area for months, until Freeman first made contact.
“We were looking for a hearing centre for our new building. That’s what we did, we brought him in, showed him what we were doing,” Freeman said.
The first phase of the eight-storey building will have offices for 20 doctors. PrimeTime offered Ullah a temporary space in the Hilltop Medical Clinic (15321 16 Ave.) until construction of the new facility – just next door – is complete near the end of March.
Once construction of the new facility is complete, PrimeTime Living will then demolish the Hilltop Medical Clinic and build a retirement residence, which would take approximately one-year to build.
The clinic will serve as Puretone’s second location, its main office is located at 8434 120 St.
“Some of our customers who get services from our other clinic, they live in White Rock. They are the main factor for us to open the location in White Rock,” Ullah said Friday.
“At the same time in White Rock, it’s a community where the population age group that lives there are more so retired, in the age range where they have hearing problems. That’s our main drive to move.”
Ullah said that in the weeks following the fire there was an outpouring of support and encouragement from his clients and Five Corners business owners.
“Even though we were new there… the people around us made us feel like we need to come back,” he said.
Ullah said the months from May until now have been challenging, and heightened by the fact that he’s yet to receive insurance money from the loss of his Five Corners clinic.
“It’s been eight months and nothing has been sorted from the insurance. They still have so much paperwork, so many questions,” he said.
“It’s been so much to go through at the same time. We lost everything and not getting anything from insurance.”
Ullah said he wants to thank the South Surrey/White Rock community and his clients for continually encouraging him reopen his business in the area.
“When everything just happened, you’re not sure what you’re doing. The encouragement really helped us cope with that situation.”
