The Downtown Business Improvement Association is calling on the provincial government to honour its commitment to create a Wood Innovation and Design Centre in Prince George - and locate hundreds of provincial employees in it.
In an open letter to Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Pat Bell, association president Hugh Nicholson called on the government to relocate the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations from Victoria to the centre.
"Not only would this lend major support for the business case for constructing the [wood innovation centre], but at the same time it would mean 400 to 700 high paying government jobs located in downtown Prince George," Nicholson wrote. "This would provide a major boost to our local economy, while locating the ministry close to the B.C.'s major resource commodity, our forest."
Bell, whose ministry is responsible for the creation of the centre, said the idea isn't entirely out of the question.
"We've always been supportive of decentralizing government," Bell said. "The principle of what they're proposing is a good idea."
The logistics of locating the entire ministry in Prince George may be prohibitive, but the ministry already has a sizable presence in Prince George, Bell said. Bell previously served as minister of forests and lands.
Approximately one-third of the province's forests are managed by ministry staff in Prince George, he said.
Bell said he expects to make a significant announcement about the future of the wood innovation centre before the end of September. Last month Bell told the Citizen there is no building code for the type of building planned for the centre.
The purposed centre would provide engineers, architects and students with innovative wood construction methods and information.
