It would have been nice to see this old building transformed in some manner...Leaving us with something like the Billy Barker hotel/casino a modern facility with ties to the past.

$4.3 million to buy it ,soil remediation, tear it down and pave for a parking lot?

With that you gotta know it is something else.

Maybe Starbucks?

Community Wellness Centre?

Ten storey office tower for Northern Health?

The PG Hotel was a fine building back in its day, but it became a victim of its location and clientelle.

Whatever it ends up being will be better than what has been there.

Precisely.....

It started to go downhill when the buildings where the Government offices and the Ramada are now were demolished and the hotels where the Courthouse stands now were demolished.

So, if a new government building (based on the other two examples, they are the only ones to have the money to build in that part of downtown) goes up there now, where will the next building(s) to go downhill be? When will the Inn become a victim of location and clientelle, for instance, or maybe some of the other smaller hotels downtown if the Coast does not abandon its property?

Remember, buildings might go away, but whatever was there will continue somewhere else.

May clean up this area of George st. The dingy bars and that aweful liquor store will be gone.

Prince George is not one for keeping its historical sites. Look at all that is left of the forts. Pathetic! Just tear the eye sore down.

Good comments in general.

Obviously, the site of the PG hotel is destined for something more than a very expensive parking lot.

Stay posted...........!

"Look at all that is left of the forts"

What forts? There were no forts here. There was a trading post. There was a fort that burned down in about 1974. A corner of that was either saved or rebuilt and is there to be viewed with no explanation as far as I can tell.

The "fort" that was burned down, however, was a re-creation a la Disney. Home made instant history for the masses.

There is nothing here about Simon Fraser. There is nothing here about First Nations. There is nothing here about the Overlanders.

If you want to take a real look at waht is missing, walk or drive down Hamilton Street from Queensway to paddlewheel park. That was the main street of Fort George, with a hotel that I think was larger than the PG hotel, had one of those "largest bars" north of San Francisco that several communities north of California had. A picture of the main street showed a vibrant community.

None of that exists anymore. At least there should be some recognition of that, other than the plaque at the park which says very little of that.

Here is an image of Hamilton Avenue before the City of Prince George was incorporated and before the PG Hotel was built and before the railway came here.

http://www.settlerseffects.ca/pls/cats_web/WEB_EXHIBITIONS.show_image?ITEM_ID=307&LANG=EN&VRN=24

Maybe a new crack pipe and hemp store will spring up in that spot. New business like this should be good for the "Downtown Revitalization".
Sorry it just bugs the hell outta me to think of the money and resources wasted on downtown revitalization when it is NEVER gonna revitalize!
If you want a vitalized downtown you don't build westgates and such shopping centres outside the downtown area..... duh!

north side of hamilton avenue looking west from the area near the dock.

http://www.settlerseffects.ca/pls/cats_web/WEB_EXHIBITIONS.show_image?ITEM_ID=307&LANG=EN&VRN=33

Same side ... with the Northern Hotel at the corner of the next block

http://www.settlerseffects.ca/pls/cats_web/WEB_EXHIBITIONS.show_image?ITEM_ID=307&LANG=EN&VRN=33

Thank you for reminding us of that key cause of what created what we have now, "censored".

So the question I have is, what gives us the confidence in the current AND FUTURE Councils and administration that will enable a turn around in that over the next 10 to 20 years?

It took some time for the demise of downtown and it will take some time to fix it. There is no instant fix.

Maybe Hizzoner Dan the man can lobby Victoria for a HST tax building be built on that site. When the Forces Base moved away from PEI they replaced it with a taxation centre. We got beetle kill in our neighbourhood. That could justify a couple of hundred bean counters in a brand new office building downtown.

Good it was nothing but the crack head holtel anyways. Staff was fat rude and had no class. The Cooles were cool. Like to see those people get another job. Good luck with that you are going to need it.

You can rest assured that whatever is going to go on this property has been decided a long time ago. It sure as hell is not going to be a paking lot. Remember that the City just bought the Norgate Auto Property, and they have just finished demolishing the Outrigger Building and the old CKPG Building.

There is something major afoot, however they do not want to release any info just yet. At the end of the day, you can rest assured that somehow or other the taxpayers will get it in the ear.

Ask yourselfs this question. The PG Hotel had a liquor license and a cold wine and beer store license. Where do you think these licenses will go., Obviously they will be relocated somewhere else in the City. You can be sure that all this was decided a long time ago.

Have a nice day.

I think you are on the right track Palopu. There are too many blocks of acquired land now sitting in that area to not have something in the works for development. Combine that with the rumous of someone wanting to buy up George Street and you have to wonder.

Is it possible that the City is finally doing something strategic that revolves around acquiring large enough plots of land that it can actually be develop it into something worthwhile? Wouldn't that be nice!

The City?

Not the City if their 5 year capital plan for 2009-2014 is accurate. The only structure other than the RCMP building they have planned for the next 5 years is the community energy plant.

It is interesting that no one can go back in history a bit and see what the province has proposed for PG and what the City would like to see downtown other than provincially funded housing.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20090216176233/local/news/wood-centre-unveiled-in-throne-speech.html

"Northern B.C. figured prominently in the Liberal government's throne speech delivered Monday, which revealed that Prince George will be home to a new Wood Innovation and Design Centre."

Then read the Smart Growth on the Ground report which dealt with the C-1 zoning district (downtown0 linked below - page 56
http://www.sgog.bc.ca/uplo/SGOG_DTPG_CP_4-5-Appendix.pdf

Then the Mayor's Task Force for a better downtown takes info from the SGOG exercise
http://www.city.pg.bc.ca/pages/news/2009/mayors_taskforce/Mayors_TF_Phase_I_Interim_Report.pdf
read page 16 ..... statement 2.3.3

Then connect the dots ...... and see whether you followed the pea under the shells and have picked the right shell.

As some say on here, time will tell.

The Ontario Municipal Knowledge Network seems to already have connected the dots

http://www.omkn.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Innovation_News_Archive&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=156057

Half down the page are the following words:

"PRINCE GEORGE TACKLES DOWNTOWN ISSUES

The Mayor’s Task Force for a Better Downtown, composed of representatives from social service providers, health providers, the aboriginal community, the business community and the provincial government, developed a range of actions to improve investment, enhance public safety, ensure health and cleanliness, green space, air quality, affordable housing, necessary infrastructure and heritage preservation in the downtown.

Activities are expected to roll out through the next three years and a key feature is a new tax exemption that would create a zone with reduced property taxes to encourage the construction of wood frame buildings in concert with the development of a provincial wood innovation centre downtown."

Thats very good news. As I sit here at my sisters in London O I have been reading opinion250 since I have been here and have been so worried as to what is going to happen to the city I live in. Unemployment so high and just endless negitive stuff. I can't help not feel there must be something I can do to help. I would like to be a part of the changes there. It's small enough place where someoneone like myself can get my hands into the changing of Prince George. You see PG has a lot of things that a place like London Ontario just doesn't have. I am proud of that fact. Yes it true we need to keep people there. There has to be something for folks to stay and want to live in Prince George. I hope we all can find that vision and be proud of out city have a good day.......Chris

I agree with Chris.

If we are to wait for the City to fix downtown, nothing will happen....EVER!

This is a private development, with local people and local money. Stay posted!

"This is a private development, with local people and local money"

Private development .... that means it will be built for their own use or the use of others willing to pay for the use of the building.

Housing? Hotel? Offices? Retail? Restaurants? Movie Theatre? Playhouse Theatre? Bank? Farmer's Market? Parking Garage?

What is it that you or I need to show a funding agency and convince them to give us 50% or even 75% on our investment?

Local People ... yes, there is no doubt some local people are involved. Private investors? Public Investors?

Local Money ..... The ones with money already invested in buildings are still having some problems filling their buildings. I believe vacancy rates have been improving before the economic downturn. Don't know how it is doing now and how it will look like in a year or two from now.

My bet is on another government project. Given the current economic situation, we will be lucky if the Cancer Clinic and associated buildings will go ahead shortly rather than being postponed for a year or two.

At the moment the "local" people own the gaming centre and are intending to make a medical building out of it. It is sitting empty at the moment. It costs money to have an empty building. Let us wait to see how quickly the first stage will be commenced and completed. Then the second and third phase.

Maybe they can swing a deal with Northern Health and lease the space to them for a long term lease. That will empty other office space in the downtown and one school.

Private money "partnered" with a variety of other funding sources will not typically make high risk investments. At the moment, downtown is a high risk investment. The more levelled properties there are, the higher that risk becomes.

It will be more than just a parking lot. The whole block will belevelled and there will be a major building on site.

..... Could it be our new Wood Tech building!

It works this way. Ramada is getting a small Starbucks. It will not have drive through capability. So the best they can do is provide parking across the street for those who do not want to find a parking space in the parkade. That way, when City Hall staff need a Starbucks, they can park right across the street. Maybe Starbucks will even put in a kiosk across the street to dispense the orders in a quasi drive through.

A $4million dollar land purchase for 30 parking spaces. Only in PG. LOL