Next spring, the eyesore that currently occupies 100th Avenue and 100th Street — what a recent city plan calls “the community heart” of Fort St. John — will be converted to green space.
Until then, however, it will remain mostly an empty lot of dirt, rocks and some dandelions.
On Monday, city council voted to spend $40,000 to beautify the former site of the Fort Hotel with benches, grass, a gravel path, and trash bins.
Though work will begin this summer, it will take the rest of the year for seeds to grow into grass.
“The city grounds manager will act as the general contractor for this project and will utilize a combination of in-house staff and local contractors to complete the work,” a report to city council states.
According to Fort St. John Mayor Lori Ackerman, the changes are not planned to be permanent. The future of that plot of land will be determined at a later date.
“I’m perfectly fine if we can do something [to] knock down the dust until we get the actual plan in place,” she said.
City staff suggested spending $150,000 to do a variety of work at the site, including irrigation installation, adding soil and sod, 20 trees, a brick wall, six benches and three waste receptacles.
However, that was a bit rich for some of the councillors.
Councillor Gord Klassen did not want to spend money on temporary irrigation.
Councillor Byron Stewart, in particular, said he would like to see some green space, but had concerns about its unintended use.
“I don’t want to see us create a urination spot for people on their way home from other establishments,” he said. “The trees are something I’m not comfortable with.”
Council asked for a cheaper option.
One option was the same as their earlier suggestion, but with fewer trees and less irrigation.
The option council eventually went with had a gravel path, six benches, three waste receptacles, “and fine turf grassing via seed.”
The final plan scrapped the trees and brick wall.
The third and final phase of the downtown revitalization project — including a more permanent option for the Fort Hotel site — is set to be presented this July, according to city staff.
That phase will help define the specific costs for downtown projects.
“As regards to the next steps, whether it be public use or going back to a [request for proposals for development], it really requires the downtown project to come forward [in phase three], with all the recommendations,” said City Manager Dianne Hunter.
reporter@ahnfsj.ca
