425 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

While I think it is noble to want to restore the Bank Street school, I have to wonder how much the "offer [of] municipal financial assistance" is going to cost me?

[Mike K.]

Interesting. Has the City ever embarked on such a pursuit before?

[JohnsonStBridge]

While I think it is noble to want to restore the Bank Street school, I have to wonder how much the "offer [of] municipal financial assistance" is going to cost me?

 

Unclear. SD61 only had a Class D cost estimate for restoring the school which was $7.5M compared to a $4.5M estimate for demolition and a new building. No idea what the partnership entails and if the heritage building restoration will suit the district's needs but presumably the City would have to compensate some or all of the incremental $3M cost. Could be higher too once a more detailed costing is done. I wouldn't bet on the building being in better condition than previously assumed.  

[Vin]

Love this suburb view of Victoria: one of the most beautiful road junction points. If only more of the suburbs were built more compactly like this.

 

https://www.google.c...!7i13312!8i6656

Edited by Vin, 02 September 2021 - 03:07 PM.

[JohnsonStBridge]

The South Jubilee Neighbourhood Association newsletter notes that they have obtained a copy of City Council a Class C estimate for the Bank St School building. Early indications peg the estimate to restore the building at the roughly the same amount as the school district's earlier recommendation to demolish and rebuild.

 

The Class C survey was delivered to Council in-camera in early 2021. SJNA obtained a copy through a Freedom of Information request in October 2021. The 183-page Class C survey will be posted on our website shortly. The report states that the building is "in suitable condition for repair and conservation" and recommends to designate it as a heritage building. The cost of restoration is estimated between $5.6 to $5.7M, including seismic upgrades to “life safety standard”, accessibility access (including an elevator), six classrooms, and universal washrooms. In comparison, the cost for an "equivalent size new building" is estimated at $5.8M. The school district previously got a Class D survey (less detailed than a Class C), which estimated the cost of restoring the building to $7.5M. SJNA does not have any information on the cost or the proposed design of a new addition to Sundance School.

 

[amor de cosmos]

The oldest Chinese temple in Canada, located in the country's oldest Chinatown, may have to shut down if it can't raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for necessary repairs. 
 
The Tam Kung Temple on Government Street in Victoria was built in 1912. 
 
But its history goes back even further, according to Nora Butz, president of the Yen Wo Society, which manages the temple. 
 
Butz says the property has housed a Chinese temple since 1876, but the building that stands there today was built after the first building was destroyed in a fire in 1911.
 
"The community came together to build this," said Butz, who has been going to the temple for 60 years, since she first immigrated to Canada as a child.
 
The temple also survived a fire in the 1980s, where the statue of the deity Tam Kung — brought to Victoria from the Guangdong province of China in the 1860s — was left unscathed. 
 
But the temple now needs extensive repairs. Butz says the roof and windows are leaking, parts of the floor are held together by masking tape, and the building needs seismic upgrading. 
 
Their cost estimate for the repairs is over $600,000.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...epair-1.6829956