19 replies to this topic

[Rob Randall]

I know you all read the title and said, "What the hell is Boomerang Court?".

It's the little square just off Bastion Square at the back end of the Yates St. Parkade. There is a little round staircase that the City is proposing to demolish because maintenance costs are estimated at $200,000 and the stairs are a magnet for social problems. They propose spending $90,000 on extending the existing stairway seen on the left down to the ground floor. Then the square would be opened up for other uses that would get more traffic through there.

Council will decide this Thursday at Committee of the Whole.



Picture courtesy of Triviaqueen on Flickr.com.

[aastra]

Were they even bothering to do any maintenance on that stairway?

Too bad a small building couldn't be put there. It'd be a great cafe space.

[gumgum]

The red square indicates Boomerang Court. The arrow points to the staircase.

[victorian fan]

I thought Boomerang Court referred to court sentencing.

[aastra]

Victoria city council has been described as a Kangaroo Court...

(Again, just a joke...no genuine offense is intended toward our esteemed councillors.)

[Rob Randall]

This is a screen capture from the 1966 NFB film "A Townscape Rediscovered" showing Kangaroo Court with an elaborate roof on the stairway that has since disappeared.

This is a clear case of "demolition by neglect" on behalf of the City. The staircase has been allowed to deteriorate to the point where it is only attractive to addicts and the homeless.



I don't know if the parkade is under construction or if it was originally only three above-ground levels.

[Baro]

yep, it was shorter back then. I think in the late 70's they added on, or so my dad seems to remember.

I don't understand how upkeep on those stairs is 200 grand but making a whole new staircase is 90 grand? Are the circular stairs made out of some exotic material or something? Does the whole thing need to be re-fabricated and replaced with custom metal work? You could build a house for 200 grand !

[Rob Randall]

Not only that, but that was the only response when the City asked for bids for the reconstruction work. No other construction company wanted the job.

[gumgum]

Just give me a Spyder Hoe and the fill from the Radius hole and I'll build the staircase.

[gumgum]

Square's overhaul scaled back
Carolyn Heiman, Times Colonist
Published: Thursday, April 17, 2008

Good thing they're scrapping the pop-up loos. That was a dumb idea. I'm guessing it would have been a mini Fastcat fiasco.

[Rob Randall]

As expected, Council approved the destruction of the spiral staircase to be replaced by the extension. I was pleased that Council recommended that they go farther than what Planning recommended and actually put more lighting in there because one of the justifications used for demolition was that the area was dark but demolishing the staircase only goes so far in brightening up an area.

I visited the staircase and examined it closely today. We often talk about plazas and public spaces that are "unloved" but this takes it a whole step further. The state of that staircase is beyond being unloved and has the appearance of being downright aggressively neglected by the City of Victoria. They abandoned the whimsical colour scheme and painted the entire thing the most drab green colour available. The hardwood railings have been allowed to rot away. Same with the flaking cement. Their sole responsibility seems to ensure it is structurally acceptable. It's like they were trying to make it repellent.

[Ms. B. Havin]

Almost missed this: Delay, fumbling in Bastion Square, april 19/08. Some highlights (emphases added by me):

The abandoned Bastion Square improvement project isn't just a disappointing setback for the downtown. It's a symptom of a deeper malaise. In June 2005 -- almost three years ago -- a Times Colonist headline reported the promise of a "major cleanup for Bastion: Arts festival provides cash and impetus for sprucing up walkways and lanes." (...)

But the work didn't get done. Among other things, the city got tangled up in a decision on whether to remove or restore the stairway from the parkade. That required consideration by two separate committees.

By November 2006, there was no progress on the promised improvements. (...)

Now the project is being abandoned, after almost three years of council discussions, studies, committee meetings and work by city staff and Bastion Square merchants.

Bids for the square improvements came in at $620,000, in part because of the delays. The Bastion Square Revitalization Association, not surprisingly, has lost interest. An opportunity has been lost. (...)

Things can go wrong for any project. And the City of Victoria receives more than its fair share of scrutiny as the municipal centre for this region.

But its inability to move forward in an efficient way with a relatively simple plan is alarming. The three years of delays have not just meant cost increases. City staff spent time and money on the doomed projects.

And just as critically, the problems in the square's darker corners worsened.

Victoria has gained a reputation as a city where studies and consultations seem endless and action rare. This failure highlights the problem.

Complete article/commentary here.

[Nparker]

Victoria has gained a reputation as a city where studies and consultations seem endless and action rare.

Sad, but true.

[D.L.]

Just today I was in the downtown Capital Iron and noticed a map of downtown up on the wall on the second floor. The map showed a possible future transit hub on the site of the Bay parkade, as well as a Westside Athletic Village taking up the southern half of the Dockside Green lands. I think the map was put together as part of a Victoria 2020 study.

[Galvanized]

Rob, are they going to do anything with "Helmcken Alley"? The TC article doesn't say anything much about it.

[UrbanRail]

How many studies does it take to screw in a light bulb in Victoria? (joke)

[Rob Randall]

^^Galvanized, there was a plan tendered late last year but it was canceled due to cost constraints by the Bastion Square Revitalization Association. The plan called for the removal of the dark archways and stairway and fixing the pavement with stamped concrete or something similar. This would open up the alley beside the Board of Trade building like it was originally.

[Galvanized]

Thanks for the links Rob, our business is right near there so I was curious.

[Baro]

Talking to the owner of koto, who backs onto that ally, the drug use there can really be a huge problem at times. Sometimes they trash her trash area and generally just cover the place with dangerous used sharps.

[Holden West]

Unfortunately there are only two solutions--gate the alley off or allow revitalization and redevelopment. One is bad, one is good; one is easy, one is hard.