Final reading of a bylaw rezoning what was formerly Millennium Park was unanimously approved at the Monday, July 29 Prince George city council meeting, allowing for its future development into a parking lot for the adjacent Regional District of Fraser-Fort George building.
The property at 101 George St. was formerly designated as P1: Parks and Recreation and is now C1: Downtown.
At the June 23 council meeting, city administration said it was going to sell the property to the regional district for just $1, in exchange for the establishment of a restrictive covenant that would prevent the land to be used for anything other than parking.
If that covenant is violated, the city would have the option of repurchasing the land for the sale price.
Mayor Simon Yu said at the meeting that the monument on the site that formerly held a plaque commemorating Alexander Mackenzie’s voyage through the area in the 1790s would be dismantled and the stones returned to the Fraser River in a ceremony held by Lheidli T’enneh First Nation.
The plaque itself, which was dedicated in 1923, was moved to Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park some years ago.
The property has been fenced off since September 2023, when the city, Prince George RCMP and Prince George Fire Rescue cleared out a homeless encampment on the site.
