Why wait until November 9th. I imagine IDL already knows they have the job.

After it's all tore down, then what? Another beautiful site in Pr Geo.

Thats what I was wondering, is there something already planned for the sites? Have the buildings been condemed?

So....when do the luxury condos get built on that site?

Losing that Bamboo House restaurant building is a shame....very beautiful Tiki architecture not seen very often these days, or definitely in this part of the country. That's a shame

You know how this type of building is sought after in the states...so sad!

No use in keeping those buildings standing if nobody is going to occupy or maintain them.

Did the City of Prince George buy these 2 properties? and if so when did they purchase them, and for what reason? Just curious.

Front stoop of the Bamboo House is a popular hang out for our "disadvantaged citizens" to enjoy a bottle of "productivity supressant".

Well now they can have a nice empty lot to "lounge" in!

The Outrigger (bamboo house) was always a special place to me. The service was always the best, and the food was great too. The architecture and decor made you feel like you were in a different place than Prince George.
metalman.

I would love to get any old memorabilia from inside before the place is demolished...any suggestions how a person would go about this?

I would assume it has been pretty much cleaned out. Certainly of anything interesting.

One of the things I fail to understand about Prince George is that people here generally do not understand the value of some of the "things" we have.

If this were Victoria, as they have done with several "heritage" buildings there, a developer would have bought the building and some adjacent property by now and have developed a condo project which would receive an appropriate name, such as Tiki Gardens, keep the building for a variety of possible purposes and design the public spaces in the building accordingly.

I suspect that if our downtown had not been allowed to deteriorate as much as it has, this building would have been kept for just such a purpose.

Once the deterioration of downtown has set in to the extent that it has, the "bulldozing" of downtown happens naturally.

We are seeing one more indication of that. This is the legacy of past Councils and administrations and their lack of undertanding of community "visions" and guidelines such as the OCP has presented that has caused "spreadsville" to empty out the core.

What is so disconcerting to me is that we are seeing all these "visioning" exercises going on right now when there was a relatively good plan in front of us and the City was unable to implement it.

I have seen no indication that anyone is working on how any new "vision" will be implemented. Quite the contrary is true from what I have seen with the "signals" sent out on occasion by City Hall.

Forgot to add the link to the Tiki Central site

http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=18090&forum=2&70&PHPSESSID=c115fc9a317d0ed5e2f06589db2b6c6c

If there is any memorabilia left, any good demolition contractor would be contacting collectors of such items to see whether there is any monetary value in such items.

It is quite likely that there is at least one "well heeled" person somewhere in the world who would pay for such items.

In fact, if there is enough call for it, and depending on the condition of the materials, someone might want the best of the interior finishing carefully removed and shipped to them to be re-assembled in a new building, just as we have a door from a New York building at Jordy's lounge downtown.

"One of the things I fail to understand about Prince George is that people here generally do not understand the value of some of the "things" we have. "

Yes, and that 'value' is in the eyes of the beholder. And as you've noted, this ain't Victoria.

I aggree very much that the value is in the eye of the beholder.

So, let us face it, what the average beholder here values can be seen when one drives around the downtown area. Simply put, the average beholder does not value the downtown. If they would, they would have been more careful to keep it vibrant.

I am sure that we all have things we value in our "at home" lives and we make sure that it is maintained in good condition. Well, as a collective of PG citizens, the city and all parts of it is our "public home". The downtown part is obviously our basement location where we keep our junk.

People from other parts of this country and the world simply do not understand why the average beholder feels that the downtown should not be valued.

On the other hand, the average beholder in Vancouver does value such ammenities as the downtown offers. If they would not, then the development that has occurred in that part of the GVRD would not have occurred in that central location over the past 20 years.

Pretty interesting website there Gus! I suggest people on this page should go and check it out!

Gus, I went to the site that you posted, very interesting, beautiful pictures of the Outrigger/Bamboo house and very interesting comments. I think that everyone in Prince George who has ever eaten or not at this restaurant should go to this site, a shame it is being torn down.

"People from other parts of this country and the world simply do not understand why the average beholder feels that the downtown should not be valued."

If those people walked around the downtown, they would see what we see. I'll agree that the downtown is not valued by the average resident. I'll admit that listening to 30+ years of talk has made me apathetic, but I'm not the only one who feels this way.

We cannot afford to maintain unused buildings because a few people might 'value' them. Which city services do we cut to maintain them? Nothing has been built in the downtown for a long time and I don't see that trend changing any time soon.

I would assume it has been pretty much cleaned out. Certainly of anything interesting.

Sorry about that ^^^.

Come on. The Outrigger was cool in it's day but it's hardly a "heritage" building or anything "collectors" would be interested in. What about the PGTV building? That could stand as a monument to substandard broadcasting! :-]

But MrPG, when these buildings are gone,there gone forever!

There again,we will be able to afford and maintain a brand new $50,000,000 pac centre down there wont we.

The downtown will be more valuable once all the junk is torn down. Thats preety much 80% of the downtown core.

If you leave the junk, the downtown will continue to be a dumping ground.

Why not lease them out and the city can have revenue from them so they can develop something there in the future with save up money instead of debt that the landowners will have to pay back.

I heard rumours that the PG hotel is being tornn down soon for a parking lot for the Ramada. Is this true?

Lots of rumors. Pretty sure it's coming down, not so sure about what the land will be used for. Something is definitely afoot downtown, though.

"I heard rumours that the PG hotel is being torn down soon for a parking lot for the Ramada."

One can only hope. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

if they tear down the PG, where do you think the daytime drunks will hang out?
If you leave no option, they will be in YOUR neighborhood and YOUR pub.

All of the social services the daytime drunks need will still be downtown. Not to worry.

The drunks will go wherever the cheapest draft is, which is not anywhere I will be.

It is interesting to see what happens to news when people do not listen closely.

The truth is that the Ramada is being demolished to make room for a parking lot for a refurbished European style of boutique hotel. If you look carefully you can see the demolition crews already at work on the Ramada.

Oh, that boutique hotel will use part of the PG hotel, gut some of the inside, refurbish the exterior, and add a new addition.

The city bought the bamboo house a few years ago for 400K if i remember right. Now they are gonna tear it down for 65k (say half the total bill). That means in order to break even they have to sell the lot for 465K. Who is going to buy a lot for half a million across from a homeless shelter?

Also I agree that is one of the nicer buildings in PG, would have made one hell of a night club.

Gus FTW!

? FTW

FTW = for the win

Right on EBS&L !!!!!

Went to the Bamboo house once for vittles. Must've been the MSG. Asbestos takes longer to work.

The rumour about the PG Ho has no legs. Even if it did we don't need another surface lot.

Gus -"a refurbished European style of boutique hotel".

Have been trying to figure out exactly what "European" style that would be. French? British? Italian?