Thursday's announcement of a Wood Innovation and Design Centre in downtown Prince George was greeted with great enthusiasm - and great optimism considering the initiative to bolster both the forest industry and the neighbourhood was announced numerous times before, and in a Throne Speech no less.
Granted, many in the crowd at yesterday's Council of Forests Industries conference may not have known about WIDC's storied history, but even those with reason to be leery cheered.
For those who may yet be hesitant the project will ever get started, it was comforting to hear the Premier send a call to architects, designers and engineers for ideas on how to create the world's tallest multi-use wood building, right here in Prince George.
As always, the Liberal political machine was in overdrive for the announcement. It's almost become tradition for this project to be used as a political platform, and Premier Christy Clark did not miss her chance.
Her speech was peppered with so much hyperbole - ("Now is the time... to continue." Huh?) and naked attacks on political rivals in the crowd (comparing B.C.'s 1990s eras of "lost opportunities" to Greece's current dire economic predicament, Clark added "Just ask Adrian [Dix]") - it was sometimes difficult to read the actual substance in the message.
But the gist is that Prince George is getting its due, and the forest sector is getting a much-deserved boost - and not to be overlooked, a boost to the forest sector means a boost to the economy, and a boost to the economy means a boost to families' incomes.
(Yes, she was on about families again, but to be fair, who's going to knock families?)
So it's apparent the centre is finally taking shape, and it's expected to be the beginning of a new era for downtown Prince George. If it pans out as expected, downtown P.G. will soon be bustling with academics, students, industry leaders and civil servants of all stripes.
There will be steps in between of course - some heartening, some demoralizing.
In the coming months, a wrecking ball will swing into the PG Hotel to cheers - despite a last-ditch and ultimately futile attempt at saving it.
Interested parties will give their two cents on what should be done with the centre - and there's sure to be disputes. We can also be sure to hear from detractors, but they'll ultimately be gone and forgotten by the time the ribbon is cut.
And some local politicians will certainly ride this achievement a long way... maybe all the way back into a seat of power, for better or for worse.
But today, there's a careful tone of optimism underlying all that lies before us, and we can all take a moment to celebrate.
-- Prince George Citizen
