CREDIT: Nick Procaylo, The Province Dale Mikkelsen enjoys the air quality in Vancouver’s National Ave. works yard, Canada’s first gold-rated green building.

Vancouver planners are setting out to change how developers think about buildings. It’s an ambitious plan to promote green building across the city and there’s no better place in the country to do it.

“Vancouver has a very educated public that is very aware of the environment — we sit and look at the trees and mountains and oceans every day,” said Dale Mikkelsen, a planner at city hall.

B.C. is already leading Canada on green-building initiatives, but Vancouver hopes to take it a step further and develop best practices for building following the LEED environmental rating system.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) was created by the U.S. Green Building Council in 1999 as a tool to rate commercial, institutional and high-rise residential buildings for environmental friendliness.

The system provides green building options and four levels of certification builders can achieve — and developers can market — depending on the number of green attributes.

In 2001, local planners adapted the U.S. LEED system for use in B.C. A national LEED Canada system was officially launched last year.

Meanwhile, Vancouver has pushed ahead with green building. Last year, the city set LEED “gold” standards for all new civic buildings, including specifications that reduce energy use by 30 per cent.

It is a high standard. Only a handful of buildings in Canada have qualified for gold certification and three are in B.C. In all, 63 buildings in the province have already registered to qualify for LEED Canada certification and six are certified.

City planners are hoping to work with private builders and developers on green building following LEED practices for all new projects.

“We want to propagate green building to the entire city and make this a new way of doing business,” Mikkelsen said. “It will be a new best practices for construction.”

Planners hope to present their strategy to city council next month on how they will work with stakeholders.

LEED awards points based on the number of green features in a building, up to a maximum of 70 points for platinum certification.

There are four levels of awards: Certified, silver, gold and platinum, with a minimum of 26 points required for basic certification.

Credits are awarded for things as simple as using low-toxicity interior wall paint or installing a system to capture rainwater to re-use in the garden. Buildings with higher ratings may use concrete that is partly made with recycled material or use solar or geothermal heating.

Vancouver‘s city works yard on National Avenue was the first building to achieve a LEED Canada gold rating. It is heated with geothermal energy, toilets are flushed with grey water and storm water is filtered, then re-used, to wash city vehicles.

The building also has excellent indoor air quality with huge windows that open, unfinished concrete floors and recycled carpet tiles that don’t give off chemicals.

“It’s fairly easy to get LEED certified at the lowest level — it’s just using good construction practices,” said Thomas Mueller, business and community services division manager for the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

“What LEED is trying to do is transform the construction industry to improve performance.”

It doesn’t have to cost more to add green features, Mueller said. A silver certification could add nothing or as little as two per cent to capital costs. The highest level, platinum, could be a significant outlay.

However, the savings on energy, increased worker productivity and lower vacancy rates provide a fairly quick return on the investment.

Although the benefits appeal more to building owners, and institutions, developers are quickly realizing health and environment-conscious consumers are willing to pay for green features.

Builders also have to consider the entire life cycle of a building, and the years of benefits, rather than short-term profits.

Victoria developer Joe Van Belleghem, president of Windmill Developments and a founder of the Canada Green Building Council, achieved LEED gold certification on the Vancouver Island Tech Park project in 2002.

He is now working with Vancity Enterprises on Dockside Green, a 1.3-million-square-foot development on a contaminated former industrial site in Victoria and is hoping for LEED platinum.

Construction is scheduled to begin this summer. The $300-million project involves 23 buildings, including light industrial and commercial use, office space, condominiums and a hotel.

There are so many green features it has garnered attention from around the world, said Van Belleghem, who has developed several green buildings in the country and consulted internationally.

The development, which is expected to take 10 years to complete, is to be greenhouse gas neutral, producing its own energy on-site with waste wood products.

It will have its own sewage treatment system and the treated water will be recycled to flush toilets. Rainwater will be diverted for re-use.

The development will even have its own mini-transit system powered by biodiesel made from recycled restaurant grease.

It will use 50 per cent less energy, 60 per cent less water and recycle storm water on site. Parking lots will mix grass and gravel so rainwater is absorbed rather than hitting pavement and running into drains.

“A lot of this is just common sense, like shading around windows and increasing natural light,” Van Belleghem said.

“Green buildings don’t have to look much different than other buildings — it’s just getting people to think a little differently.

“You almost have to forget what you know about building and be open to other ideas.”

© The Vancouver Province 2005

British Columbians must invest dividends earned from the current resource boom in key sectors to keep their competitive economic edge and not be lulled into thinking business will stay on its rosy upswing, federal Industry Minister David Emerson told a B.C. Chamber of Commerce audience Friday.

Emerson, speaking at the chamber’s annual general meeting at the Harrison Hot Springs resort, said government and business must work on improving the province’s transportation links, its use of technology and on building what he called competitive “clusters” of business activity around key growth industries to attract increasingly “footloose” human and investment capital.

“We need to get our mind off the fact everything is going well because we’re in a commodity boom, and start thinking in terms of what competitive advantages we can generate … using the wealth that’s being created by the commodity cycle,” Emerson said in a telephone interview after the speech.

The advantages, he added, need “to endure over the business cycle and through the booms and busts.”

Emerson said governments are doing their part with initiatives such as the Pacific gateway strategy, which has brought investment to the Port of Prince Rupert and discussion about improving financing options for the Port of Vancouver.

He added that B.C. gets tremendous benefits from transportation corridors that “just happen to be passing through,” but more could be done to link businesses within B.C. to that infrastructure.

Technology — such as access to broadband Internet and advanced communications — is another area where Emerson would like to see more attention paid.

He added that cities and regions also need to encourage the creation of business clusters where research, suppliers and often competitors are gathered around common activity.

“If you combine synergistic clusters with conectedness of communications and transportation conectedness, and you have three very powerful locational levers,” to attract new investment.

Emerson had no offers of new funding to bring to the Chamber of Commerce meeting. He said his “call to action” was for the chamber members to become more aggressive about defining positions and initiatives they can advocate for government’s next budget cycles.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

CREDIT: Jason Payne, The Province Signs remind drivers that Beatty is one the streets that now has two-way traffic.

Expect minor traffic delays through Yaletown today as drivers get used to three streets that were changed from one-way to two-way traffic over the weekend.

Sections of Homer, Cambie and Beatty Streets became two-way on Saturday morning.

The changes are part of the city’s transportation plan to improve access to downtown homes and businesses.

“Two-way gives the area a more local feel, as opposed to one-ways that have a more commuter-route feel,” said city transportation engineer Doug Louie.

Three Gastown streets opened to two-way traffic last year. After some initial congestion, traffic stabilized.

“There’s always a risk of more accidents during the adjustment period, but it should even out,” said Louie. “Traffic will be redistributed. We’re not reducing the capacity of the streets.”

Despite directional signs that will remain until summer’s end, some drivers yesterday seemed confused.

“It’s crazy,” said Duane Bradley. “There are little signs everywhere. It takes a while to get used to it.”

Mary Liu agreed, saying she saw a car turn in to the wrong lane and almost caused an accident.

“I think the changes are good if you don’t know the city — if you’re from outside Vancouver or a tourist,” she said. “But if you know the city, it can be pretty confusing.”

Cab driver Kuldip Bhatti said the changes make his job easier.

“It’s good for me,” he said. “To pick up customers, I won’t have to go around the block so many times.”

Reaction among Yaletown business owners was mixed.

“There isn’t much parking around here,” said Naman Wiesel at Cafe O. “Most of our business is walk-by, so I’m not sure if it will change too much.”

Severio Gallo, owner of Yaletown Gelato, was more optimistic.

“I like the idea that there will be more traffic coming by, but I don’t know yet if we’ll see more customers,” he said.

© The Vancouver Province 2005

COQUITLAM I Police in Coquitlam got an unexpected chuckle Thursday from the unusual tale of a woman who fell asleep in a house in Vancouver only to wake up in the same home in Port Coquitlam the next morning.

“We’ve all had a bit of a giggle — my gosh, that’s an awful long way to go and not wake up,” said Corp. Janice Baptista of the Coquitlam RCMP.

Baptista said the woman ducked inside a developer’s display home in Vancouver Wednesday night in an effort to get out of the rain. She fell asleep and was apparently unaware the home was being transported to a storage yard in Port Coquitlam, police said.

Police were called to the yard in the 1600-block of Broadway Avenue, Port Coquitlam around 1:15 p.m. Thursday, responding to the report of a confused young woman “acting strangely.”

After a conversation with the woman, Baptista said her strange situation became clear.

No charges were laid, and neither the woman nor the display home was harmed in the incident.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Special to the Sun

May 14, 2005

With spring in the air and summer just around the corner, many of us are spending more time outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. Despite this call to the great outdoors, however, research indicates that most people spend approximately 90 per cent of their time indoors. While we often consider our homes havens from the haze of smog created by car exhaust and industrial emissions which even Vancouver suffers through during warmer months, a growing body of research suggests that the air we breathe indoors is often more polluted than the outdoor air of large, industrialized cities.

Our contemporary energy-efficient, draft-free homes exacerbate indoor pollution problems by reducing the rate at which outdoor air replaces indoor air. When there is little infiltration (little cracks that let in drafts) or insufficient natural or mechanical ventilation, the air exchange rate is low. This, coupled with the numerous emission producing sources in our homes, makes indoor air particularly susceptible to high pollution levels. Nearly everything we do or bring into our homes contributes to indoor air quality (IAQ). The following are just a few of them.

TOXIC HEAT

While we all enjoy toasty rooms, crackling fires and hot meals on cold winter days, the combustion equipment creating our heat — unvented kerosene and gas space heaters, chimneys and furnaces, and gas water heaters and stoves — can contribute to increased levels of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and air borne particulates in the indoor environment.

INTERIOR FINISHES

There is nothing like the look and feel of freshly painted walls, new kitchen cabinets, or a recent furniture purchase. Unfortunately, these interior products and many others can contain and emit formaldehyde including: particleboard, hardwood plywood paneling, medium density fiberboard (MDF), permanent-press textiles, many glues and adhesives, and some paints and coating products.

SPIC AND SPAN

Your air freshener is “mountain breeze,” the dish soap is “lemon fresh,” and the toilet bowl cleaner claims “great bleaching action.” Smells squeaky clean, but your indoor air is now a veritable soup of volatile organic compounds (VOC), or organic chemicals. Used as ingredients in many household products — paints, cleaners, cosmetics, and hobby products — VOCs are released not only when you use a product but also when they are stored. In the absence of adequate ventilation, high pollutant concentrations can remain in the air long after these activities are finished.

THAT ‘M’ WORD

Moisture — water-damaged materials, wet surfaces, and high relative humidity — can serve as a breeding ground for biological contaminants such as molds, mildews, bacteria, and insects. Microscopic arachnoids and house dust mites, which thrive in damp, warm environments, are responsible for one of the most powerful biological allergens.

RADIOACTIVE ROCKS

Absent from B.C.’s coastal regions, radon concerns many homes in the Interior and east of the Coast Mountain range. Radon gas, which comes from uranium-bearing soil or rock, enters homes through cracks in walls and floors, floor drains, and sumps. Studies indicate that from one to five per cent of all homes in the interior of BC may have unacceptable radon levels.

CLEARING THE AIR

A number of symptoms can result from poor indoor air quality including irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Repeated and long term exposure has been linked to serious conditions such as respiratory illness, heart disease, and cancer. Fortunately, there are changes you can make that directly affect and improve indoor air quality.

SOURCE CONTROL

Eliminating or reducing individual culprits is generally the most effective (and cost-efficient) way to improve indoor air quality.

– Have central air handling systems, including furnaces, flues, and chimneys, inspected annually and promptly repair cracks or damaged parts.

-Insure that you have a CO monitor for your combustion furnace.

-Carefully consider everything you bring into your home — use non- and low-VOC paints, glues, and other products; switch to natural cleaners such as vinegar and baking soda.

-Ask interior decor retailers about the materials used in their products.

-Properly dispose of partially full containers of old or unneeded chemicals.

VENTILATION

If you cannot eliminate the source, be vigilant about ventilation. Bathroom and kitchen fans that exhaust outside remove contaminants from the room and can also help increase a home’s overall air exchange rate.

-Help control moisture by installing a humidistat that turns on fans when relative humidity goes above 50 per cent.

-Take heed when product labels call for a “well ventilated area.”

-Install a heat recovery ventilator (air-to-air heat exchanger), a mechanical system that increases air exchange rates without compromising energy efficiency.

AIR CLEANERS

Unfortunately these devices are generally not designed to remove gaseous emissions. While they can help reduce pollutants and allergens such as dust mites, pet dande and smoke, they should not be considered substitutes to efforts to eliminate or dramatically reduce emission sources and to improve air exchange.

Want some assistance clearing the air? Here are a few resources that can help.

CMHC, The Clean Air Guide

US EPA.

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/index.html

B.C. Ministry of Health Services

UBC School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, Dr. Karen Bartlett

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

CREDIT: Ric Ernst, The Province Alex Piniche, 6, celebrates his birthday with Chuck E. Cheese at his Langley restaurant.

He’s a grinning grey mouse and your kids may soon know his name as well as that other mouse with the white gloves and short pants.

Chuck E. Cheese has already ramped up its Canadian TV-advertising campaign and is actively seeking Lower Mainland locations for new, kid-focused restaurants.

“Chuck E. Cheese is quite bullish on Canada,” said Chris Chan, an associate with the Vancouver office of Northwest Atlantic real-estate brokers. The company is looking for locations for the Texas-based CEC Entertainment Inc., which operates the restaurants.

“They want to roll out in the B.C. market almost as quickly as they can. They’re looking at sites, but nothing is close to done yet.”

B.C. currently has only one Chuck E. Cheese, which opened in Sept. 2003 in Langley. (A Coquitlam outlet closed 10 years ago.) The part-restaurant, part-entertainment centre, is geared to kids aged two to 12 with games, shows, pizza and lots of noise. Birthday parties are especially big at Chuck E. Cheese.

The challenge is finding well-priced real estate in the right family-oriented neighbourhood. The firm needs 12,000 square feet, plus lots of wide-stall parking for minivans. “The company is looking at four or five stores in Greater Vancouver over the next few years,” Chan said.

“But they have specific requirements. We may have to look at shopping centre locations where they can share parking.”

B.C. kids may not see the purple-trimmed restaurants often but they are likely becoming familiar with the little grey mouse. “Chuck E. Cheese is the most popular mouse in America and we want to do the same in Canada,” said Ken Bullock, vice-president of real estate for CEC Entertainment.

“In the U.S., we’re the second-largest advertiser next to McDonald’s.” The company is running frequent commercials on YTV and Teletoon — about four per hour.

Since the average child watches two hours of TV a day, “Chuck E. Cheese is front and centre in children’s minds,” Bullock said.

John Rice, CEC vice-president of marketing, said the firm has eight restaurants in Canada — five in Toronto, one each in Edmonton, Windsor, Ont., and Langley — and would like to open as many as 30 in the next five years. The rest of the 500 restaurants are in the U.S. where only 50 are franchised.

“We’ve identified quite a few potential areas in Canada,” Rice said. “The demographics in cities such as Vancouver and Toronto support us — the trick is finding locations.” He said Toronto and Edmonton will have new Chuck E. Cheese restaurants this year and a second location should be open in the Lower Mainland by next year.

© The Vancouver Province 2005

VANCOUVER SUN FILES Policing costs can’t be eliminated until until police report back to council on current costs, city officials say.

Vancouver bar owners want to know why they’re still being charged almost $1 million a year for what were supposed to be “temporary” policing costs, even though police received a massive increase in the city’s 2005 budget.

“It’s been a year and a half. It’s time to end it,” said John Teti, owner of the Gastown bar Sonar and head of a 25-member group called Barwatch. “My understanding was that this was supposed to last for a year, until police were up to their full manpower. They’re now up to that, plus they are getting 100 officers over the next two years.”

The city allowed bars to start staying open until 4 a.m. in the summer of 2003. Police said it was costing them a significant amount of money to provide enforcement, partly because so many officers had retired and late-night shifts had to be covered through overtime, and partly because of the problems caused by thousands of bar patrons all spilling onto the street at once in the early morning hours.

The city negotiated a temporary fee with the owners for the extra costs and eventually cut the hours back to 3 a.m. to try to reduce some of the problems.

Bar owners who chose to stay open until the new 3 a.m. closing limit get charged on the basis of number of seats and how many nights they are open to that time. Some pay as much as $6,000 a month.

But even those who pay much less say it’s an onerous user fee that has to end.

“It’s almost become the status quo,” said Vince Marino, co-owner of the Pumpjack.

Although his bar is part of the gay-entertainment district on Davie Street, which typically does not see the kind of crowds or rowdy behaviour that police say is a problem on Granville Street or in Gastown, he pays about $650 a month so he can stay open late on Fridays and Saturdays.

But the city’s chief licence inspector, Paul Teichroeb, said he can’t eliminate the fee until police come back to council with a new report on policing costs, as was agreed last fall. That hasn’t happened yet and he has no information on when it might.

Councillors say there might be a case for adjustments, but they need more information.

Coun. Tim Louis said if the costs have dropped, the fees should be recalibrated.

But he doesn’t think they should be eliminated.

“If the bars are open for longer hours at the bar owners’ request, it should not be passed on to taxpayers.” He said he doesn’t want the city grabbing money that it isn’t entitled to, but “I’m certainly not looking to give the bar owners a free ride.”

Coun. Jim Green takes a slightly different position. Although he, too, said he needs more information, he said he doesn’t support user-pay police.

“Once the situation gets to some level of normalcy, I would like to see that they do not have to pay.”

He said it’s not just a bar’s hours that create policing problems.

The way it is managed and the crowd it draws can also create a need for a higher level of policing, even if the bar closes earlier.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Years ago, when someone mentioned senior citizens, I imagined some guy walking around with the waistband of his checkered trousers positioned just below his armpits. You know the look.

Now that I am older, much older, I realize that belittling image does not reflect today’s reality.

Seniors are re-inventing themselves.

At what point does one become a senior? Seems to me the entry level is getting younger.

Forget 65, these days businesses offer discounts to folks 60, 55, even 50 years of age. Restaurants offer time-restricted specials, although there is no definitive word on whether or not 50-year-old diners can be convinced to chow down at the buffet line at 4 p.m.

Recently, the 400,000-member Canadian Association of Retired Persons gave itself a kinder, gentler moniker — Canada‘s Association for the 50-plus. Smart marketing move because that repositioning strategy likely provides a significant boost to the organization’s membership-recruitment potential.

Today’s seniors set high expectations for themselves. They are optimistic about their future. They expect to live longer, many of them past 80 with no major health complications.

Seniors are transforming life stages and consumer trends. Many are more physically active now than they were 20-30 years earlier. Sensible diets, stress-reduction strategies, social interaction and regular exercise are all part of their daily regimen. They ride beefed-up motorbikes, take yoga and spin classes, join running and walking clubs, learn how to golf, enrol in dance classes, go back to school, purchase vacation homes, even spend a buck — both men and women — on cosmetic surgery.

In years past, precious little was understood about the housing needs of the growing seniors population. Just when someone believed they had them figured out, they quickly determined, usually when gobs of money had already been spent, that they had travelled down a dead-end marketing path. Even today, the many levels of housing needs challenge even the most savvy marketing gurus.

Thankfully there are countless workshops, seminars and focus groups that help builders and their marketing consultants to determine what active seniors want and what they don’t want.

For example, an American organization, the National Association of Home Builders, is presenting a major conference, billed as a must-attend event, entitled Building for Boomers and Beyond: Seniors Housing Symposium 2005. A record attendance is expected. A brochure promoting an upcoming seminar urges builders to pay close attention to seniors. “This swelling customer base will no longer be merely a niche, it will be the single largest market segment of consumers.”

So, what type of homes does this emerging, influential demographic group want? Before I get into that, a clarification. In this column I will focus on housing choices for active, financially independent seniors. I will leave the examination of assisted-living or acute-care housing for another day, but it certainly is a sober, engaging issue that definitely should be examined in great detail at a later date.

Many of today’s active seniors rattle around in their large homes after their grown children leave the nest, so they decide to downsize. A couple I met recently sold their detached home on Vancouver‘s west side for more than $800,000 and purchased a townhome in Surrey for under $400,000.

What a great deal! They are leaving an older, high-maintenance home in need of upgrading and moving to a new, low-maintenance townhome loaded with modern conveniences and protected by the strongest warranty in Canada. There is no mortgage on either home. So now they have more than $400,000 left over for savings, travel, and as is the case with the couple I spoke with, help their only child buy his first home in a townhome project about five miles from mom and dad’s new place.

I met the couple at a just-opened Surrey townhome project, and together we toured two showhomes on display. The home the three of us preferred was a two-level, three-bedroom model with a master bedroom and ensuite bath on the main floor, and two secondary bedrooms on the level below, which also contained a four-piece bath, and recreation room with a walkout to a patio and small yard. A large unfinished room, perfect for storage or workshop, completed the layout.

The man and his wife, both in their late 50s, said they loved the fact they could enter the main level from the double garage and all their day-to-day living would take place on that one level which, in addition to the master suite, included a living room, dining area, family room, powder room, laundry nook and spacious kitchen with a walkout to a deck. The lower level will be reserved for guests.

Although the one-level-living concept was viewed as convenient by the couple, it might some day become a necessity as the inevitable aging process presents some health and mobility challenges.

The couple mentioned the word downsizing many times because their new townhome was indeed smaller than the one they sold in Vancouver, but after the tour they agreed the home actually felt larger because of its high ceilings, window placements and comfortable, open-concept design.

This project also has a huge clubhouse complex that rivals many resorts, complete with pool, hot tub, pool tables and party room. The couple said they are looking forward to spending a lot of leisure time there now that they don’t have to deal with strenuous yard work and exterior maintenance chores.

There are millions more seniors like the couple I met. Although there are innovative developments similar to the one we toured, the homebuilding industry is merely scratching the surface when it comes to providing homes to this diverse, demanding and discriminating cohort.

Look out world, the seniors are coming, and coming, and coming.

Peter Simpson is chief executive officer of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association. Email [email protected]. Website www.gvhba.org.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

CREDIT: Ward Perrin, Vancouver Sun Work has begun on the Phyllis Bentall water garden at the VanDusen Botanical Garden.

Vancouver’s VanDusen Botanical Garden will today announce a $20-million renovation plan that coincides with the garden’s 30th anniversary.

Key improvements to the 22-hectare garden include a redesigned entrance and new reception centre; a new 650-square-metre free-standing pavilion for classes, concerts and weddings; and a new water garden, part of a larger garden terrace and forecourt.

The substantial makeover, expected to take five years to complete, is aimed at broadening the garden’s audience, improving visitors’ experience and providing better educational programs and community events. There are hopes the changes will result in a doubling of attendance to 300,000 visitors a year.

“This project will allow VanDusen to crank it up a notch,” garden director Jill Cherry says.

“It is going to raise VanDusen to another level in terms of a place that people think of coming to on a frequent basis, a place that is very much a vibrant part of Vancouver life and an important resource,”

Major financial contributions to the $20-million plan have already come from various private and public sources.

The Vancouver Foundation, which manages the garden’s endowment fund, has made the largest single donation of $1 million.

The Bentall family has contributed to a memorial water garden to be named the Phyllis Bentall Garden, which is expected to be completed by the end of May.

Significant government funding and more private donations are expected to be announced at the launch today of the “garden renaissance” campaign.

With new more substantial donations, VanDusen expects to be able to say it has raised close to $10 million toward the project so far. It expects the Vancouver Park Board to match that to meet the $20-million total needed.

The entrance and other features were designed by Vancouver architect Barry Downs of Downs Archambault.

The idea behind the new entrance is to represent the mountains and oceans and native flora of the region. Cherry says it is also designed to entice people to visit by getting them “to wonder what is going on inside.”

The public is also being invited to help with the cost of the renovations and upgrades by buying $4.99 bags of Dig In potting soil, available at local garden centres, and $2 packets of seed, collected from plants in the garden. Organizers hope to sell more than 10,000 bags of soil, from which the garden will receive $1 a bag.

Cherry says the idea to upgrade the garden’s facilities was conceived five years ago when the garden’s two governing partners — the park board and VanDusen Botanical Garden Association — realized demand on the garden was quickly outstripping its resources “and something needed to be done.”

Cherry says the existing garden infrastructure is hindering growth. Although the garden has grown and become more beautiful, the buildings have been mostly untouched in 30 years, she says.

[email protected]

WHAT $20 MILLION WILL BUY:

– Addition of 2,787 square metres (30,000 square feet) of new facilities, including the preservation of 1,579 square metres (17,000 square feet) of “VanDusen’s noted West Coast modernist architecture.”

Garden to get $20m makeover

CREDIT: Vancouver Sun graphic

– A “dramatic, regionally inspired” water garden at the entrance to raise the garden’s profile along Oak Street and 37th Avenue.

– A 650-square metre (7,000-square-foot) garden pavilion on the site of the current lathe house, adjacent to the Great Lawn, to accommodate education classes and provide a venue for receptions, horticultural shows, concerts and other performances.

– An expanded arrival hall that will provide a meeting place for visitors.

– Phyllis Bentall Garden: A water garden featuring a collection of hardy water lilies. The water feature will form part of a larger terrace that will span the width of the visitor centre and function as a garden forecourt and setting for various events.

– The existing Floral Hall will be doubled in size to create a 250-seat conference facility. The hall will be upgraded with flexible room dividers to better accommodate simultaneous events by garden clubs, classes and exhibitions.

– An expanded gift shop.

– Technologically advanced library and gallery space.

– Lantern-roofed great hall to offer interactive exhibits and garden information.

– Living Museum gardens featuring sculpture, land art, landscape innovations, travelling exhibits, educational displays and new horticultural introductions.

– Garden Cafe to complement the existing formal Shaughnessy Restaurant.

VANDUSEN’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY REDEVELOPMENT:

Plans include redesigning the entrance, adding a pavilion for classes and a new water garden

1. Water tumbling from fountains and between pools will invite passersby on Oak Street into the garden.

2. Native plants and water features form new contemporary gardens at entrance.

3. Garden galleries will host short-term displays of art, sculpture, new trends in horticulture and other education exhibits.

4. Terraces of pools with collections of water lilies form the new Phyllis Bentall Garden.

5. New 650-square-metre Garden Pavilion will become the centre for garden education. With seating for 450, the pavilion can be divided into classrooms or used for concerts, lectures, community events, and weddings.

Source: VanDusen Botanical Garden

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

CREDIT: Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun Downtown Granville is expected to keep its edgy side during redevelopment of three of its key blocks by D. Bonnis & Sons Ltd. CREDIT: Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun The Lennox pub is one of Granville Street’s new businesses. CREDIT: Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun Next to be developed is Bonnis-owned land next to its Commodore site. CREDIT: Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun Panhandlers are regular presences along Granville Street even as redevelopment brings new business into some blocks.

VANCOUVER – Is downtown Granville Street — once the commercial heart of the city and, for the past 40 years, its grungy, alternative sore spot — about to transform itself into another Robson Street?

The reigning King of Granville says no.

Yes, the street is changing, says Kerry Bonnis, whose family company, D. Bonnis & Sons Ltd., owns more than half of the east side of three key blocks and who has recently doubled the rents for some properties.

But, says the man driving much of the change, he wants Granville to hold on to the personality it has now: The street with an edge, where the shops stay open after others lock their doors, and there’s a mix of everyone from pierced-nose skateboarders to clubgoers to families out for a movie.

“Robson is more or less a shopping mall with traffic running through it,” says Bonnis, who owns, with his brother Dino, a total of 221 metres in the 700, 800 and 900 blocks of Granville.

“For us, it’s important that diversity and eclectic uses remain, provided they adapt to the changing needs of consumers. We want to keep some of the edge.”

Granville’s future is what everyone is wondering about these days, as longtime businesses are shutting down or struggling, while newcomers flourish, and rumours swirl about the billion-dollar retailers that Bonnis says are about to move in.

Bonnis won’t say yet who they are, but he stressed he’s looking for businesses that complement what is already on the street.

The street started to change five years ago when the Bonnises, defying conventional wisdom that Granville had been ruined by its 1970s transformation into a mall and wasn’t worth investing in until cars were allowed back in, bought more than half of the 700 block. They constructed a building that now holds a wildly successful Future Shop and Winners.

Now the company has started construction on its 900-block property and is about to redevelop another chunk of land, next to its Commodore site, on the 800 block.

The momentum picked up recently with the announcement that the Capitol 6 theatre will be transformed into a residential tower on the Seymour side and a new retail space on its Granville front.

Longtime retailers like the Leather Shop and Cheap Thrills are gone or shutting down, while the venerable Granville Books — where late-night moviegoers have for the past 20 years been able to pick up the latest in science fiction or high-end literature until 11 p.m. — is hanging on until its lease expires next year.

Granville Books co-owner Bob Cole says the bookstore was hit hard by the bus strike in 2001 and then by the gradual disappearance of movie theatres, which brought all-day crowds to the street. They were replaced by clubs that don’t pull people on to the street until late evening.

He doesn’t see how it could survive the kind of rent hikes others are facing.

At Cheap Thrills, which specializes in funky, offbeat clothes and novelties, the increase was 100 per cent, to $14,000 from just under $7,000.

“We could probably make it at $8,000. We’re not big enough to pay $14,000 and we just can’t find another street that will work,” says owner Shellina Visram. So she decided to close and sell through the Web instead.

But others who have moved in say they see nothing but a glowing future for Granville.

Underworld, a Montreal-based company that sells skateboard-style shoes and clothes, opened in November and its owner has been amazed by its success.

“I’m a huge fan of Granville over Robson,” says Alex Bastide. “And we’re going to be way more edgy.”

Stores like Golden Age Collectibles, David Gordon Shoes and Fluevog Shoes are all planning to stay.

Retail consultant Blake Hudema says he sees Granville becoming more like West Broadway, which serves residents and regional destination shoppers more than tourists, the way Robson does.

That’s feasible now because of the huge residential boom that Vancouver encouraged on the side streets around Granville, said Hudema.

“The Bonnises’s brilliance was recognizing early on that there was that residential market in the area.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2005