Work in earnest has only just begun on transforming the old Chances Good Time Community Gaming Centre into a new medical centre, but it's already drawing inquiries, says Dan McLaren.
"Based on levels of interest, we theoretically have it 120-per-cent filled," McLaren, president of Commonwealth Health Corporation, said Tuesday following a tour of the site at Seventh and Quebec where demolition of the interior began Jan. 17.
There's a difference between expressions of interest and full commitments to moving in, McLaren cautioned, but he was in a buoyant mood. It's the first new medical centre in the city in about 40 years, he noted and added there's a strong demand for more doctors in town.
"The bigger challenge, quite frankly, is getting the physicians up to fill the demand and one of the biggest concerns that our friends in the medical community have told us is that an impediment to getting doctors up is getting a good-quality premises to work out of," McLaren said.
Exactly what kind of services will be provide is still to be decided -- there's room for up to 24 medical and dental offices over two floors -- but during the tour possible spots within the 24,000-square-foot building were pointed out for a pharmacy, a provider of medical equipment and a walk-in clinic.
The idea is to develop an integrated service.
"We would hope, if we do a good job of marketing, we would be bringing together the right team of medical professionals," McLaren said. "If it was all dentists, it wouldn't work. If it was all orthopods, it wouldn't work. We may find ourselves in the unfortunate position, as developers, of actually saying no to some medical professionals so that we can keep room open for others in order for it to properly work."
Cutting edge medical equipment, like magnetic resonance imaging, could also be in the cards.
"We would be very open to that," said McLaren, who hopes to see the first tenants move in on June 30.
The demolition phase is employing 25 workers, the construction will raise that total to 60 and $1-million of the $3.25-million project is financed through a low-interest loan from the federal government.
Guided by McLaren, Prince George-Peace River MP Jay Hill got a first-hand look at what's planned.
"I was very impressed not only with the work that's been done so far but for the vision that Commonwealth and Dan McLaren is showing," Hill said. "It's some great first steps and look forward to it as it develops."
A holdover from when gaming operator John Major built the facility to house bingo, a commitment to building at least six townhouses on the site remains in place, said McLaren.
