Brilliant!!! $2.5 mil spent and no plan. Is there anyone steering this bus???

Get yourself a sledge hammer and get to it Dan!! You Maroon..

And some of you wonder why all the negativity on this sight!

oops! a little spelling mistake there!(Site)

Do not miss this part of the interview ..

".....it remains to be seen if a developer would be interested in demolishing the building, or possible reclamation of the historic hotel."

This is a different approach than the one taken on other properties. Although, it is the same as the one taken with the RCMP building site. That building has not been demolished yet.

The tax payers of this city are responsible for to much unused, unrented, unleased property. Rediculous!

People complain about the state of the downtown, and when the city tries to do something, people jump on them as well.

The way I see it, if you don't like what the city is doing downtown, you can't complain about how crappy it is down there. At least the city is actually doing something as opposed to more studies.

Board it up....chances are it will be gutted by a fire in a short time...its a natural thing called downtown revitalization.

Another property to sit idle, unused, with no prospect of being occupied, and not contributing to the tax base of the city. Another noteworthy achievement, but what are they trying to do? An enterprising management would try to rent out some of these properties at least, cheap rent for a one year term, tenant pays utilities something, anything.
metalman.

One would have thought the city, with all their empolyees, that at least one of them, would have had enough brains to see that everything was in order before proceeding on this silly little journey they are embarking on...
Might as well re-open the doors and let the down town creepy crawlies have a place to live...

They booted 70 of us out of that Holtel for what. I myself lived there for two and a half years. I was happy there. I live somewhere else now but the point is they did this gave us 60 days to leave. I'm not impressed and I don't think anyone else is. Good Job on whom ever thought of this idea.

Who is going to rent the vacant PG Hotel for a year? Which major business will locate downtown in its current state?

Why does it need to be a "major business"?

low income housing
Community Center
Farmers market
small retail business mall
parking
public health facility
clinic
hostel

There are my positive suggestions. Care to take the antithesis?

I would suggest that the downtown needs both to survive. The downtown is already well represented by your examples above.

Low income housing is a no brainer here

What does "no brainer" mean?
Does it mean that this should be done with out thought? Sort of like spending $2.5 million on a dilapidated hotel without an exit strategy?
Does it mean it should not be given any due consideration? Take the do nothing approach?

Just 1 of those terms that annoy me. Please expand on your thoughts.

To clarify, I am not suggesting a free homeless shelter. Simple affordable housing for the economically challenged.

The trouble with ( good ) ideas like low income housing, clinic, or a hostel is the excessively high standards that must be met to comply with today's regulations.
An authority such as the City could never expose the corporation to such a legal minefield as a public building that does not meet code. There are standards for everything, and some are useful, don't get me wrong, but if the City had to upgrade the P.G. to meet current codes it would be very expensive. I threw out the idea of 'renting-anything' in a plea for some sort of sensible alternative to what we have; big empty, unmaintained buildings.
metalman.

well I am free this weekend and have my own sledgehammer, safety glasses, steel toed boots, and work gloves AND am more than willing to come down and help tear that dump to the ground!!

I have a feeling the PG Hotel will be the next building to catch on fire downtown.

That'll be a big fire.

That building is at least 4 times the size of the Columbus and has a substantial "courtyard" above the first floor podium that lets light into the upstairs rooms. That part will be difficult to access for firefighting and will provide great access to open air that will fan the flames.

The base of the courtyard is the roofing material from the first floor. Nice unprotected petroleum based fire starter to spread the fire to the other floors.

Metalman has it right. The previous owners were able to provide housing. The building would have passed annual inspections by the fire commissioner's forces for an existing building. They would have made some orders of how to provide a comparable minimum standard of safety and, presumably, the hotel complied to those.

The City is not in such a position. They would have to do considerable upgrading.

Of course, the other way to look at it is that the building is almost 100 years old and has been "renovated" several times over during that time. It has obviously not had any substantial fires. So, it appears to have done its job. I am not sure what the indicators are that it would not continue to do so for several more years.

What is the living wage for Prince George?

Living wage? Everything I earn that is not taxed. It doesn't leave much.

Another example of political and bureaucratic incompetence. Where can we find honest, competent people?

great job city of p.g! will u buy my building to downtown! and raise everyones tax