Yep, the Vancouver Canucks begin the playoffs in less than a month.
Yep, there will be hype.
So what does Police Chief Jim Chu have planned as celebrants descend on the city during the teams playoff battles?
First of all, its really up to city council and city staff to decide whether downtown streets will again be closed so people can hoot, holler andfill in the blankat massive television screens. Chu will obviously get some input on that.
What downtown will look like come playoffs is unclear right now.
But Chu said at a recent press conference related to the Stanley Cup riot that his officers are ready for whatever is planned. He said his department has examined all the reviews that were conducted into what erupted downtown June 15 and have had success in policing large public events since the riot, including the Celebration of Light fireworks.
But whats he think of moving fans inside B.C. Place Stadium to cheer on the team?
Last June, the stadium was closed for renovations. We prefer controlled events, where we can anticipate the numbers of people that will show up, Chu said in response to my question. So if people show up at B.C. Place Stadium, we know theres a certain level of capacity, we know theres screening before you go into the stadium and we also know people arent going to show up and wait outside because theres nothing to see.
It should be noted the Whitecaps soccer club now plays out of the stadium and has three home games scheduled in Junethe 10th, 16th and 20th. And one other thing the hot/cold/lukewarm Canucks have to win a few playoff rounds to be playing hockey in June instead of golf.
Hotel Millions
In an entry last week, I wrote that the feds and provincial government were joining wallets to shell out $116 million to renovate 13 Downtown Eastside hotels.
But something didnt seem right about this. My suspicions were confirmed when a reader emailed me copies of stories published in a variety of Vancouver papers that described renovations done to some of the hotels. So I got hold of B.C. Housing to ask about this.
The short answer is, yes, some of the 13 hotels had previous renovations.
But that work was done with separate money from the $116 million$87 million from the provincial government, $29 million from the fedsannounced earlier this month.
I thought $116 million alone was a whack of dough to be spent on the 13 hotels.
Turns out, the provincial government already spent $10.8 million fixing up nine of the hotels, the most expensive of which was the $5.7 million reno to the Marble Arch hotel at 518 Richards.
The upgrade included fire and life safety systems, renovations to plumbing and electrical wiring, internal and external finishes. Apparently, one-third of the units received a full upgrade.
The Marr Hotel at 401 Powell got a $1.1 million facelift in what the government described as a moderate renovation. The upgrade included interior finishes, fire and life safety systems and partial electrical and mechanical work.
The rest of the $10.8 million was spent on the Beacon Hotel ($210,672), the Dominion ($141,119), the Gastown ($886,863), Orange Hall ($522,556), Rice Block ($820,700), Roosevelt ($896,290) and the Washington ($404,192).
The provincial government owns the 13 hotels and more than 10 others in the Downtown Eastside. Nonprofit housing operators manage the hotels. Some of the tenants were previously homeless and continue to deal with drug addictions and mental illness.
Twitter: @Howellings
