By David Wiwchar

Port Pub demolition order passed

Jun 25, 2024 | 9:14 AM

The clock is now ticking on the Port Pub.

City Council unanimously agreed to begin demolition proceedings by advising the property owner he has 30 days to restore the building or tear it down.

If he continues to have minimal contact with the city, contractors will be hired to tear down the hotel and the land would go up for tax sale, according to Mayor Sharie Minions.

“The city has done a lot of due diligence already to understand what the cost of demolition would be in comparison with the cost of remediation, which is how we made this decision recognizing the cost of remediation was far too significant for us to take on, but following the expiry of that time period, the city will pursue and move forward with demolition of the site,” she said.

Consultants reported the estimated cost to remediate and restore would top $10 million, while the cost to demolish would only be $1 million.

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Minions said she spoke with BC Housing to take over the project but is not hopefull.

“We knew it was a big ask to ask the province to purchase the building and remediate it,” she said. “We know those are big numbers and a lot of costs, but that said, it did start a productive conversation with BC Housing and more specifically with the province and our MLA – who is a huge advocate for providing housing in the community – it did start an important conversation about getting some more urgent supports into the community right away, so we did talk about a few ways that that could happen that really would again be in terms of solutions until a new supportive housing building is built in the community, which could be a few years out.”

If the city is forced to tear down the building it would likely go up for tax sale.

Port Pub owner Peter Wang has 30 days to do the work or 15 days to appeal the order.