That’ll give them a cozy home to sit in and oppose the Site C project and the thousands of man-years of high value employment that it will create. They got theirs Jack – no need for the rest of the hard working residents of northern BC to have well-paying jobs.

And some people are saying that Big Business isn’t doing well.

What a nice addition to a downtown that needs a commitment from our whole community (retail, business, government, social agencies, residents etc) to continue the revitalization. Good work BCGEU for your commitment to our community. You have shown that your commitment to fare wages for all extends beyond your own membership.

‘You have shown that your commitment to fare wages for all extends beyond your own membership.’

Except that they want to deny thousands of unionized and non-unionized workers the opportunity to work on the Site C project with fare (sic) wages for the next 10 years.

“to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and our carbon footprint.”

Hilarious so I guess the manufacturing, transportation of materials evolved from pixie dust. Statements about something she has absolutely no knowledge.

I wonder if one will be able to go into the building ? or if it will be like wood innovation building only UNBC and god get to in there…

So cool that a representative organization has enough resources to acquire real estate assets.

Are union dues going up or have they already increased?

Great looking building..

………….built by the dues of 2000 hard working BCGEU members. Unions are big business!
Interesting to note that construction costs are acknowledged to be higher as a result of building Union.
I assume then that the BCGEU members are ok with paying more for their building as a result of only tendering to union contractors.
As a member of the public, how do we follow that logic when unions are suggesting union only on big (site C) public funded projects?

Yes PVal, it is a nice looking building. Great addition to the downtown area.

It is a nice looking building from that corner. The back of the building looks like it is a totally different building, yet it will be visible from the side streets.

It has paid attention to energy use, but it has not paid attention to ground space use which promotes uses that cause people to wander downtown and do window shopping, real shopping, eating, recreating and whatever real downtowns are like in cities with successful downtowns.

The OCP has some guidelines about that, but we have Council after Council that ignore the OCP. The main thing, some is willing to invest, and in these times I can understand that. We have nobody we can call the City Planner, someone who understands the dynamics of urban land use and urban economics.

WIDC has the same problem, nice building but no street functionality and that is especially true there because it is on George Street.

If we keep on going this way, we will have new buildings and refurbished buildings but will continue to have no reason for people, other than those who work downtown and those who have to attend to some business in those buildings and those who service the people who work downtown with noon hour and coffee break food service providers. Sidewalks will continue to be rolled up when offices close.

Sort of like Georgia Street in Vancouver versus Robson Steet.

Once the WIDC building is fully functional, they may open the lobby up.

I think they will have to have a reception desk there to direct people and monitor activities for security reasons.

The main lobby is a wide open space, probably the largest such unsupervised space in any downtown building. Even setting up a coffee and snack cart there would provide eyes on the space. Problem is that the entrance into the building is split into two and each of the two is not wide enough to easily accommodate people going in as well as out.

It probably has the narrowest building entry in town for a building of that size. It is about the same size as the Scotia Building. The Phoenix Medical Building is also about the same size and has a wider entrance.

Very nice building, well done. Good to see some of those union dues being spent locally.

It is a great looking building, and although I’m not personally involved with it in any way, I’m grateful that they chose PG and that local trades were utilized.
Slightly annoyed however by the self promotion of the union by Ms. Smith though. It should go without saying that a union use only union labour*, and hire local companies.
*were all involved companies and workers members of a union?

Strongly agree with gopg2015 about the evolution in design and usage of new and renovated buildings downtown.
metalman.

Is this building the provincial headquarters for the BCGEU or is it just the Local office? If it is just a Local office I would be livid at such a lavish outlay of union dues if I belonged to the BCGEU.

A second floor corner office to plan their lavish trips across Canada and abroad?…..Union dues well spent

Wel, then detoe44, good thing you aren’t a a member :). I am sure they would have to get the okay from their members before building this.

It’s not like the prov gov who does what ever they want with our money.

As we are in recession . I think that the bcgeu has chosen to have it built at this time is really helpful as a stimulus project for pg and area . I applaud them for not only building a beautiful addition to the area but has also employed so many in this time of need . My hat is off for the bcgeu . Locals helping locals . It doesn’t get much better . Thank you . Great article as well .

Only in Prince George would people get excited about a $6.5 Million three story office building.

Are you talking about the people that built it Palopu ? They put food on the table for their families . That’s darn exciting , if you have a family to feed . I guess you have not experanced that . Try it , it’s great . It makes you feel like a hero .

Ataloss, I believe in giving credit where credit is due, but you can’t seriously think that the BCGEU chose to have it built at this time, in a recession, and as a stimulus project for PG and area?

What? So you think that the BCGEU executive was sitting around one day when one of them all of a sudden says “Hey my brothers and sisters, we’re in a recession! So, let’s build a new building in PG to help stimulate the area!

Get real, Ataloss! Are you now so desperate to pump up the BCGEU that you need to resort to making ridiculous statements?

Ataloss, since you mentioned recession, you might want to check out this headline from the Globe and Mail, July 27, 2015:

“Canada had weak first 4 months but not in a recession, economists say”

http: // http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/canada-had-weak-first-four-months-but-not-in-a-recession-economists-say/article25726788/g

Remove 2 space, then 2 more!

You can easily argue the intent but you can not argue the result . Pg has a brand new beautiful building that will help all pg tax payers by shouldering some of the weight of taxes . And ! More than a few locals had work for months . It is only rediculas in your mind . In the minds of few pg families this is a summer to remember . Can you not put your ideology away for a minute and think of the whole ? I don’t really see anything else happening from the private sector at all . Do you ? It’s all either Union or government pie in the sky .

The civic government is tearing things down . Old crappy things , which is a good thing . That’s more employment as well . Let’s cry about that as well shall we .

Btw there are 67k bcgeu members . For them 6.5 mill is peanuts . Building a building at today’s prices that will last +~ a hundred years is being cost effective .

Ataloss, I have absolutely no issue with the BCGEU building a new office. Far be it for me to tell them how to spend their member’s union dues!

What I find ridiculous is your feeble attempt at suggesting that they chose to build it as a stimulus project for PG and area AND to build it now during an economic slowdown, as if they are the saviours of our economy, haha!

Buildings such as this take a lot of planning! There are design concepts to be reviewed and ultimately approved. Building permits need to approved! Financial considerations must be dealt with! All of this and so much more take time. To suggest that they just up and built it for the reasons that you name is absurd!

Unless of course, you believe in fairy dust and that sort of stuff!

You do know that the Great Financial Crisis started in 2008 , right ? The USA is out . We are still waiting . Are you in a bubble hart guy ?

The GC is from out of town. Can anyone come up with the number of locals that were on the job vs out of towners?

This is a new building being built in the core of the city without money from tax-payers. That is a rarity for this city, although every election involves talk of downtown revitalization.
It is nice to see a building being built in PG that meets a high level of LEEDs certification and will be interesting to see what it looks like on the inside.

That is so right minion ( geez could you not get another handle ? Every time I write your handle I feel bad ) . They are not taking taxes , they are paying taxes and still the righties bitch . WTH . Dang , what the heck .

Well Ataloss, if you want to be honest and if you want to be factual, the BCGEU represents British Columbia Government employees. The wages and benefits paid to BCGEU members come from the taxes paid by all taxpayers in BC (yes, that includes the BCGEU members)!

When you say that the BCGEU is not taking taxes, you’re not entirely correct. The BCGEU collects union dues from it’s members. We pay the member’s wages, benefits and pensions out of the taxes that we pay!

So, we all pay taxes! The Government uses some of those taxes to pay the wages of it’s employees. The employees use some of their wages to pay their union dues. So, we all have had a part to play, or pay, in the construction of the new BCGEU building!

But I’m just splitting hairs!

Our local BCGEU executives now have a fancy new building and just like the RCMP Palace, err Station, we have all had a part to pay in it!

To the BCGEU, you’re welcome!

What I was saying was that it was nice to see a building constructed in the city core that did not involve the expenditure of the city’s taxpayers. Not where else the money came from.
Currently the construction going on there either involves city money or insurance money, so it was nice to see an investment of money from an outside source.