Victoria Conference Centre

And I get that, but come on. $1,500 art installation is a pretty basic duty of the city. Anything to do with public art gets pooped on by some on this forum. I get the complaints about $750,000 for nothing on Quadra Street, but whining over $1,500 for this is akin to the minutia that our beloved neighbourhood associations gripe about.

 

Let's be real here. Even Langford spends municipal dollars on public art.

Don't forget there was a sculpture removed from the Crystal Gardens property so we're not even back up to par when it comes to public art at the Convention Centre grounds. 

There was art removed from Bastion Square, too. And from in front of City Hall.

And I get that, but come on. $1,500 art installation is a pretty basic duty of the city. Anything to do with public art gets pooped on by some on this forum. I get the complaints about $750,000 for nothing on Quadra Street, but whining over $1,500 for this is akin to the minutia that our beloved neighbourhood associations gripe about.

Let's be real here. Even Langford spends municipal dollars on public art.

The art is a red herring. The story is how the City completely misjudged the market and paid millions to renovate that site and is also costing us hundreds of thousands a year to maintain with minimal revenue.

They should sell the facility and put another hotel on the property with a realistically sized conference centre below.

Or not.

The location of the conference centre is awful. The trend is high profile locations with incredible views. Ours is stuck in between buildings next to the busiest thoroughfare on the Island.

The National Animal Welfare Conference lands in Victoria in 2020

 

Want to meet like-minded people? Learn about new trends and issues facing animal welfare? The National Animal Welfare Conference (#NAWC) is where you need to be in 2020. NAWC is the largest and best-attended Animal Welfare

 

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This two-day conference features presentations, workshops, panels and activities on new animal welfare initiatives. You’ll get insight into:
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* Best practices for leadership
* Fundraising in an animal welfare context; and
* Advocacy techniques and animal welfare community engagement.

 

When you join us in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia to celebrate animal welfare you’ll learn about:
* Animal Welfare Science - what it means for animal welfare
* Sheltering and Community – this year with a strong focus on canines
* Advocacy and Mobilization – how to keep the momentum up for animal welfare
* Animals and the Law – a look at animal laws, including case studies and experiences
* Climate Change and Animals – a new topic for this conference (only on March 29)
* Humane Education – we want to see a humane Canada in one generation, teaching empathy is one way we’re going to make it happen.

 

And so much more!
https://pheedloop.co...901013-85945385

 

The 2020 National Animal Welfare Conference is where we’ll celebrate our Heroes of Canadian Animal Welfare at The Humane Canada Animal Welfare Leadership & Innovation Awards with Dr. Jane Goodall on March 28, separate ticket required.

 

Network with Industry Leaders at #NAWC

 

Where: Victoria Convention Centre, Victoria, British Columbia

When: March 28 – 30, 2020 (There is a deep dive training day on March 31, learn more here (https://pheedloop.co...901013-85945385) )

^ I wonder if they’ll organize a carriage tour of the city? 😬

With tourists returning to ­Victoria in greater numbers, the city’s marketing wing is preparing to undertake a master plan that could include a new conference centre.

Paul Nursey, chief executive of Destination Greater Victoria, said it’s very early in the ­process and it would be considered a 20-year project, but a much larger new centre is needed to replace the aging facility at 720 Douglas St., which was built in 1989.

Nursey said the existing centre, which has about 77,000 square feet of space and the capacity to handle 2,000 ­conference delegates, is running up against its limitations.

A city staff report noted the centre’s small size prevents ­Victoria from bidding on a ­number of meetings.

____________


So the group started doing some “pre-feasibility” work to see how it could expand or replace the existing facility. The goal is at least 120,000 square feet of meeting space.

https://www.timescol...project-5610557

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 July 2022 - 02:48 AM.

There are a lot of things we need in the City of Victoria before we need to replace a building that was built in 1989, and based on the word of bureaucrats who think we might get more conventions if we had a bigger building.

 

• How about finishing off Government Street, rather than have the pedestrian areas delineated with concrete garbage cans and poorly constructed seating areas.
• How about ensuring all COV public buildings are seismically stabilized so we don't lose them all in a relatively minor earthquake.
• How about rebuilding something that truly needs rebuilding and restoration, the Crystal Pool.
• How about making sure the only two large theatres in the City are stable and sufficient to continue to be a resource for residents of the COV.
• How about repairing all the roads in the city that have been ignored for years now, and are buckled and full of potholes.
• How about solving some of the street crime, assaults, drug dealing, theft,  and property damage that plagues the downtown core 24 hours every day.

 

Indeed some $100 million or so for a new convention centre would be great, were it not the citizens of the COV being asked to pay for it, with many of them not even close to reaping the benefits of it ... not to mention that the current convention centre, when looked at in terms of the remainder of the COV's building inventory, is essentially "brand new".

This is the second stupidest building replacement idea of 2022. It should follow the RBCM concept into the dustbin of civic missteps.

I had to double check the date on the article! The City used the exact same argument a decade ago to convert Crystal Gardens to an expansion site for the conference centre. Since that happened, the conference centre has consistently lost money and has rarely (if ever) been fully booked. Some staffer's buddy must need a consulting gig.

 

I am surprised that they haven't pulled out the asbestos, earthquake and reconciliation lines yet.

Edited by spanky123, 22 July 2022 - 06:58 AM.

 

There are a lot of things we need in the City of Victoria before we need to replace a building that was built in 1989...

 

It's just so brazen and ridiculous, it's almost like they're daring us to notice how brazen and ridiculous it is. On the one hand they serve up no end of blather about environmental responsibility, about "values" that supposedly emphasize repurposing and re-using over wastefulness (continuity and preservation, heritage and history). But on the other hand they say a 30-year-old complex is just about ready for the trash bin. It's too old! It's too small! It's not good enough!

 

Not to mention: anyone who blindly accepts the premises of the past two years would obviously never (as in never, ever) be eager to embark on any large projects that would depend on unrestricted travel and tourism not merely for their success but even as the justification for their very existence. Remember that whole thing about simple human interaction suddenly being an existential threat? And anyone who doesn't blindly accept the premises of the past two years should also not be in favour of such projects, because such people would obviously understand that the rug could be pulled out again at any time.

 

It really does seem like these things are meant to test people: to test if they're awake, to test if they can remember anything from the day before, or maybe even to test if they have any awareness of anything at all other than themselves.

It's just so brazen and ridiculous, it's almost like they're daring us to notice how brazen and ridiculous it is. On the one hand they serve up no end of blather about environmental responsibility, about "values" that supposedly emphasize repurposing and re-using over wastefulness (continuity and preservation, heritage and history). But on the other hand they say a 30-year-old complex is just about ready for the trash bin. It's too old! It's too small! It's not good enough!

Not to mention: anyone who blindly accepts the premises of the past two years would obviously never (as in never, ever) be eager to embark on any large projects that would depend on unrestricted travel and tourism not merely for their success but even as the justification for their very existence. Remember that whole thing about simple human interaction suddenly being an existential threat? And anyone who doesn't blindly accept the premises of the past two years should also not be in favour of such projects, because such people would obviously understand that the rug could be pulled out again at any time.

It really does seem like these things are meant to test people: to test if they're awake, to test if they can remember anything from the day before, or maybe even to test if they have any awareness of anything at all other than themselves.

What a ride the last few years has been living in clown world!

I wish I believed the tents were being packed and the circus was leaving town.

Maybe next they'll announce plans for a larger arena or a big new stadium. It would be a great way to put an exclamation mark on the absurdity.

In the age of Zoom, accessible video, WFH, and diminished business travel, TV triumphantly announces the future here is larger conferences.

Makes sense in a world where climate crises are resolved by high ranking political figures jetting around the world with large entourage in tow.

What a ride the last few years has been living in clown world!

Not the point at all, certainly not in this thread ... but we know you just can't help yourself!

Not the point at all, certainly not in this thread ... but we know you just can't help yourself!

Apparently neither can you…