Nightclub Proposal Draws A Crowd
Nightclub Proponent, Ted Coole, shows Councillor Garth Frizzell his group’s plans for 355 Vancouver Street
Prince George, B.C. – It’s been a movie theatre, a bingo hall, a martial arts studio…and now a local group would like to transform the vacant building at the corner of Third Avenue and Vancouver Street into a 400-seat nightclub.
Last night, the City of Prince George’s planning department held an open house – part of the early stages in the application process for a primary liquor licence and rezoning application for the lot at 355 Vancouver Street. City Planner, Jesse Dill, said, "So this is both to inform the public about the process and the proposal, as well as – really important – getting their input on it."
The proponents of the proposed ‘Coyotes’ nightclub were on-hand, as well, to talk with those streaming into the meeting room at the Civic Centre. Spokesperson, Ted Coole, said, if approved, the building will undergo $1.2-million dollars in renovations, it will be open from 9pm to 3am Monday to Saturday, and will feature live entertainment, with the main target group being 25- to 50-year-olds. The group plans to lease, with an offer to purchase over time.
Coole said they had been trying to work out a lease agreement with the City for the former Cadillac Ranch, but chose to move on after a year of failing to come to terms that were agreeable.
He said the open house has been a good opportunity to get the message out to area residents and businesses that they’ve built their whole business plan on being a good ‘neighbour’. "We’ve been doing this for 40-years, so everything in our plan – right from the standard of renovations to the standard of entertainment to our good neighbour policy – is all addressed towards those issues." Coole previously owned the PG Hotel, and his group currently owns the Westwood Sports Pub and Bon Voyage Liquor Store.
The planner with the City said he was pleased by the turn-out. He said, "It’s been varied responses and we plan to collect all of them and put them into the report we will submit to Council." Those that did not attend have until February 13th to make a submission that will be included in the planning department’s report. (email: jdill@city.pg.bc.ca )
A report recommending the application be either approved or denied is expected to go to City Council within four weeks time. If Council approves first and second reading of the application, it would then go to a mandatory public hearing in Council Chambers before third reading.
Comments
My gawd can’t have one of those in Prince George. Haven’t they worked hard to rid PG of all the night life?
How about getting the clubs we have to clean up thier act, the times I have gone all I have ever seen are drug deals,drunks and fights nice place to take your lady.
The same people that ran the P.G. for 40 years. Didnt the city just buy the place and bulldoze it because of all the problems it created downtown? How can they say they build their business around being a good neighbour when all their old neighbours were glad to see them go?
I’m with Brownshoe. Bars/clubs aren’t bad, trashy bars/clubs are bad. I think it would be great if we had a ‘classy’ nightclub to go to in PG (not saying that this is necessarily it). Make the cover charge high enough to keep out the trashy people and set a precedent by acting immediately to stop fights and other bad behaviour. Keep it classy PG!
Kitty corner to this proposed night club will be the fanciest of cop shop’s. Except this cop shop has ground level parking. A night club closing at 3:00am and a fleet of cop vehicles across the street. Sound’s like a recipe for repair bill’s.
Forgot to mention: 400 seat night club.
@ Brownshoe…. So where are these trashy night clubs you speak of?? The shooters Group has Shooters on Ospika and Shooters on Brunswick. Both running live entertainment. Both venue’s are well kept and have a good clientele. The old Rum Jungle has been newly reno’d. The PG Hotel is gone, the Columbus is gone, the Generator hasn’t changed much cosmetically but also has not been in the news for a very long time. The Croft may be the last of the venues that might not be for everyone. Beyond that you have the pubs. I support live music and since the Dan Rogers government destroyed that PG has had less that half the options it once had for live dancing. Trouble is everywhere in some form. Does it mean we should all stay home and roll the side walks up at 9:00pm in a city this size?
I agree with Brownshoe and Summit. It’d be great to have a classy place to go two steppin’ and hear some live music. I’d even take out-of-towners to a place like that.
i should note that I agree with Brownshoe. I’m just not sure that there is really any trashy places left in PG
Classy and two steppin’.
All under one roof ?
A new nightclub may be a welcome addition to the entertainment scene here in Prince George. This particular location, however, makes absolutely no sense when you look at the existing businesses and services that are already well established in the immediate vicinity.
Immediately across the street is Chinook Yoga Studio, which also houses an additional naturopathic healing business. Within one block there is the Native Friendship Centre, which provides many services, not the least of which is the healing centre for alcohol and addictions. Housed in the Professional Building one block away is the Northern Health mental health and addictions office, a private mental health and addictions practice, and an office providing mental health and addictions services for Carrier Sekani Family Services.
Books and Company, which is less than a block away, is an excellent fit with these businesses and services. A liquor primary is not.
There is also a residential area only one block from the proposed location and I would be surprised if the local residents are supportive of a nightclub so close to their homes.
Perhaps this is an opportunity for the City to demonstrate that they are supportive of business in our community by working with these proponents (if they are, in fact âgood neighboursâ and have a viable business model) to find a more suitable location downtown within a timeframe that allows for the development to proceed successfully.
A new nightclub may be a welcome addition to the entertainment scene here in Prince George. This particular location, however, makes absolutely no sense when you look at the existing businesses and services that are already well established in the immediate vicinity.
Immediately across the street is Chinook Yoga Studio, which also houses an additional naturopathic healing business. Within one block there is the Native Friendship Centre, which provides many services, not the least of which is the healing centre for alcohol and addictions. Housed in the Professional Building one block away is the Northern Health mental health and addictions office, a private mental health and addictions practice, and an office providing mental health and addictions services for Carrier Sekani Family Services.
Books and Company, which is less than a block away, is an excellent fit with these businesses and services. A liquor primary is not.
There is also a residential area only one block from the proposed location and I would be surprised if the local residents are supportive of a nightclub so close to their homes.
Perhaps this is an opportunity for the City to demonstrate that they are supportive of business in our community by working with these proponents (if they are, in fact âgood neighboursâ and have a viable business model) to find a more suitable location downtown within a timeframe that allows for the development to proceed successfully.
http://www.kamloopsconventioncentre.ca/events/index.php
Kamloops has a nice conference centre attached to the new Coast hotel which is used to bring live entertainment to town as can be seen from the above link.
It seems the Treasure Cove tried to do that at the start and were never really successful at it, or did not put any effort into it. The Kamloops centre is like a mini Vegas cabaret/dinner theatre.
Sorry. Still a rookie with posting – didn’t mean to post twice.
Zack says “Perhaps this is an opportunity for the City to demonstrate that they are supportive of business in our community by working with these proponents (if they are, in fact âgood neighboursâ and have a viable business model) to find a more suitable location downtown within a timeframe that allows for the development to proceed successfully.”
and from the story – “Coole said they had been trying to work out a lease agreement with the City for the former Cadillac Ranch, but chose to move on after a year of failing to come to terms that were agreeable”
I think that answers the question about the citys willingness to work together…
400 seats is way too many! Just asking for trouble. Start with 200 seats and prove you can run the joint responsibly then maybe the city could consider allowing them to add more seats.
I also think these guys are out of touch with current trends. The reality is smaller clubs are the way to go. Patrons like them because they feel safer, the cops like them because the gangs can`t hide among the crowd, and the neighbours like them because there aren`t the associated problems that occur when you have large numbers of drunks pouring out onto the street at the same time.
Nice that there are two local guys trying to get this going but IMO neither has the greatest track record for running high end and problem free establishments.
Just commenting on Alibi’s enforcement of a dress code. Sounds classy right? As it was described by staff to me, it means no looking like you rolled out of a ditch and no gang colours. I guess the strippers need not worry unless they have gang colors tattooed on their bodies. In other words they support exploitation of naked women for profit, but the audience must consist of decently dressed public. Pro lawyers, doctors, construction workers type audience, anti-homeless, ani-gangs. Im pretty sure our priorities are already twisted in this town, I dont think a new club will do much more damage. I do recommend hiring some male waiters because as a previous waitress in PG, the sexual harrassment gets to you after a while. Men seem to think female waitresses are all fair game for sexual comments, grabbing, and purchase. Believe it or not, some women that work as waitresses are married, have kids, and want nothing more than to go home to their family without some egotistical self absorbed drunk trying tograb her between the legs. I think some men confuse the fact that a bartender/waitress will try to sell you alcohol, not because they are flirting but because its a job, and the friendlier they are the better tips they get.
Here’s hoping “Coole and the gang” (Ted & his partners) come up with a proposal that is worth of the support of the community. I think the proximity of the new cop shop will have a deterrent effect on rowdies and drunks hopping into vehicles to drive home, so the neighbours should be appeased.Let’s hope it gets going and is operated in an orderly fashion. This city needs establishments a person can visit for entertainment, relaxation etc. Let’s also hope it flies for another reason: Visitors to the 2015 Games are going to want something to do when not attending the sports venues. As a city we can either receive good grades from out-of-towners attending the games or they could turn out to be the worst promotion since the “PG Number One Crime City in the Country” fiasco. Be a pity if people leave here saying “Great people in PG but don’t go there, there’s nothing to do.”
They could paint a directional arrow on the street from the club to the nearby drunk tank!
I suspect that the **Visitors** for the Winter Games will be primarily the coaches, staff and atheletes,and famalies. Then some local people and some from the surrounding area. I wouldnt expect too many visitors from Vancouver or Edmonton, Calgary. They will all watch the games on TV.
I doubt if this nightclub would make a difference to anyone about Prince George.
Just my two-bits on the club idea itself…
Rather than just one 400 seat facility, why not split it into three 150 seat bars? I’m assuming the walls are still intact from the movie theatre?
You could pay one entry, and have a choice of places to go… one dance club, one country/rock/live music club, and a chill lounge.
“Rather than just one 400 seat facility, why not split it into three 150 seat bars? I’m assuming the walls are still intact from the movie theatre?
You could pay one entry, and have a choice of places to go… one dance club, one country/rock/live music club, and a chill lounge”
That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time!
Pylot Project – Good idea, not everyone likes country music.
One Democrat – unless you want to be around a few drunks etc., some could find lots to do without drugs or booze in this city.
A few concerns I have with this one is the location and will it be kept up to snuff? The previous owner of the PG Hotel did not maintain that building etc. Did it not contain contaminants? Just asking. Are they not the same owners? Why would the city not want it closer to the downtown core? Why did they not let them into the old Cadillac etc? Now to open up here – does not sound right to me.
Main target group – 25-50. Sound like it could be a good place for the family to get together. ;)
Does not matter what the “neighbourhood” wants as city leans towards what they think the “Community” wants as they have done previously with the Vance and Haldi areas.
Oh, I forgot the contaminants were from those pesky little critters mentioned in previous posts when the old hotel was being torn down.
:)
Live bands? They should call it a performing arts centre and it will pass council in a day. ;-)
I think it would be a great addition to the city and is the perfect location in that it will add to a night life in an area that has the most potential to see related businesses benefit from more street traffic. IMO this could be the greatest catalyst to new developments in the area in decades. Its the safest part of downtown already and with more people on the street out for good entertainment it can only help.
IMO West of Victoria will be the main part of our downtown decades from now. It has the most urban/retail potential of anywhere in the downtown area.
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