Demolished
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 @ 3:59 AM
At left, the home on River Road moments before the excavator reduced it to rubble at right – photos 250NEWS
Prince George, B.C.- It was the last private residence to stand on the northside of River Road along the Nechako River, and now it is gone.
It, along with several properties on River Road, was purchased by the City as part of the flood mitigation plan following the last ice jam event.
That plan also included the building of a dyke between River Road and the South bank of the Nechako River. But residents of Prince George sent City Hall a message, when they rejected the proposal that would have seen the City borrow the money to build the dyke.
Although the City did try to find someone willing to purchase the home and move it to another property, that effort fell flat because the two storey house was just too tall to pass under the numerous power and data lines that cross River Road. Temporary disconnection of the lines was too costly to make moving the home a financially viable option.
Vandalized several times over the past few months for its high quality interior elements, ( kitchen cupboards, vanities, plumbing and lighting fixtures ) there was no other option, it had to come down.
The excavator was on site yesterday, and in about an hour, a home that took several months to build was reduced to a pile of crumbled studs, drywall and insulation.
Comments
Just another city of PG screw up to add to the list. More unneeded property to add to the growing inventory of city owned non-tax generating properties.
Return the property to the park!
The house probably should never have gotten the building permit, thus became a liability to the city. Thus it was a loss on the books, but on the long run it was a win.
I think its on the south side of the river looking at where the cutbanks are?
Oops northside of river road.
The theme of SO many comments on this site . . . “Just another city of PG screw up to add to the list” . . . is tiresome and can’t be good for readership. Just sayin’
I think that can be answered in many ways.
At the moment will suggest this one as a response:
Just another City of Prince George voters screw up for voting in the wrong people and not understanding the important issues.
You just noticed
“Just another City of Prince George voters screw up for voting in the wrong people and not understanding the important issues.”
Who the hell votes?
Had the City go approval for borrowing before they purchased the property, then this problem could have been avoided.
They could have made the purchase contingent on getting approval for borrowing through the AAP. They were so confident that they would get approval that they purchased this property plus much more, and are now stuck with it.
I wonder just how much property they actually purchased, and how much they paid for it. Did they purchase the Winton Global property on the North side of River Road??? How about the Interior Warehouse property on the North side of River Road.
Did they spend millions????
A comment by the City to the effect that the Land Reserve Fund is not in very good condition at this time does not surprise me at all.
If I had an 80 grand election fund even I could become the next Mayor.
Its th spin doctors that win.
Cheers
Just another City of Prince George voters screw up for voting in the wrong people and not understanding the important issues.
Opps,copy paste…
that was a really nice home, its too bad it could not have moved and utilized
There was a time (when men were men) that a house like this could have been moved.
Seems now the best they can do is tear things down. They have all the excuses, such as wires, etc , but the fact of the matter is, it could have been done. If they want to talk about cost, lets talk about the cost of buying the property in the first place.
A major screw up like this in the **real** world would have cost a lot of people thier jobs. But at the City it seems its just another day and regular pay.
Retired 02: “If I had an 80 grand election fund even I could become the next Mayor.”
Hopefully you don’t really believe that. You could have a million bucks, but you’d still have to open your mouth at some point to speak.
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