It’s like a lottery the City of Prince George knew they were going to win. The Fortis deal worked out in 2004 has come to fruition and now the city has $28.3 million to show for it. The importance of this money is massive. How it is spent can be transformational to the present and future of Prince George, so long as it is not squandered.
Prince George city council did the right thing Monday night, punting this down the road. Citizen columnist Trudy Klassen is also correct – the next city council should decide and every candidate in this fall’s election should speak to it, helping voters to elect a mayor and council with the right vision and prudence to spend that money in 2023 and beyond.
For starters, the money should be put into an endowment fund where the city could pull out money but have to pay it back, much like how first-time home buyers are allowed to draw money out of RRSPs towards a down payment with the promise to pay themselves back. An endowment fund where only the interest is spent each year doesn’t make long-term sense because the city can only legally make low-risk (therefore low-interest) investments and inflation will reduce the value of the fund each year.
Here are four major capital projects ideas, with the city throwing in $7 million each and paying for the rest with matching or better funds from the provincial and/or federal governments, as well as through private/public partnerships and the proceeds from selling land made available by replacing aging facilities.
Infrastructure
It’s boring but critical. Fixing sidewalks, roads and the crumbling sewer and water lines is the city paying itself in a huge way, especially because it literally paves the way for present and future development.
Housing/Social Issues
Instead of waiting for BC Housing, the city could make its own up-front investment into more social housing and have the province agree to pay them back. Sound familiar? That’s how the Fortis deal was structured. In this case, the city would pay up front, in exchange for the province either eventually buying or leasing the housing. The city could also work out a deal with Northern Health to develop an addictions treatment and support centre (and in the part of the city of their choosing to avoid the Haldi Road problem from years back) and then sell or lease the facility.
Sports
Close Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (and the Elksentre in the Hart) and upgrade the current Kin Centre at Exhibition Park, with a new 2,000-seat Kin 4 arena forming the cornerstone of those enhancements. Packaging up the current downtown arena and the now-empty Fire Hall 1 into a single parcel would be perfect for more high-density urban housing like Park House (and let’s avoid another parkade fiasco, please) and would put more money on the table to help pay for this plan.
Arts
Instead of calling it a performing arts centre, call it a multi-purpose expansion of the Civic Centre on the current site of the Four Seasons Pool. The new facility could be configured in numerous formats with removable seats, ranging from a 250 to 1,200-seat theatre space that could be used not only for live theatre and music, but would also work for keynote speakers and presentations at major conventions, graduation ceremonies and so on. This facility would replace the Playhouse, meaning the current facility could be demolished and that valuable land at the junctions at Highways 16 and 97 sold for commercial and/or multi-unit housing development, another source of funds for this downtown development.
These are just some bare bone ideas that require further exploration and detailed budgeting. Some tough choices will have to be made but that’s a good problem to have, one that comes with $28.3 million potential solutions and priceless opportunities for long-term success.
Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout
