The Chilliwack
Progress Thursday
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Harrison Fest
Whisperer Grief camp creates
Taking it to the streets.
The 34th annual Harrison Festival of the Arts.
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Down to the wire for Friends of the Paramount Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Friends of the Chilliwack Paramount Theatre say they need community support now more than ever. With less than a week until the June 20 deadline in the city’s request for proposals process, the Paramount group is trying to save the historic theatre building from the wrecking ball with a plan to open a repertory theatre to view classic and nonmainstream films. City council granted a 90 day-extension to the group back in March, launching a new RFP in which they could submit a business plan and re-development proposal. Up until then city officials had been looking into demolition options for the dilapidated building, making it clear no city funds would be forthcoming to save it. Landmark Cinemas donated the building to the city when it closed in November 2010, and CEPCO offered to demolish it. Building repair costs are now estimated in the $250,000 to $300,000 range, and the group’s plan is based on securing wide-ranging financial support from the Chilliwack community. After weeks of strategic planning, and fundraising by the Friends of the Paramount, the deadline to submit their plan to revitalize the iconic Paramount building is now bearing down on them. “This is a pivotal period for the revitalization of Chilliwack,” the group writes in a press release on Saturday. “If you were thinking of submitting a Save-A-Seat pledge, please do so now. Together, we have demonstrated that there is a will in our community to restore this historic building, and see it thrive once more as a cultural hub in the centre of our downtown.” To avoid any perception of bias or advantage, the group was told it would not be permitted to present their application in person before council, but instead they have to submit it in document form, as required under the city’s RFP rules. Continued: THEATRE/ p12
Students with the Justice Institute of B.C. treat the victim of a mock sniper shooting during the official opening of a new facility at the institute’s Chilliwack campus on Tuesday. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
New JIBC facility opens in Chilliwack Robert Freeman The Progress Quickly, efficiently, the team of B.C. Justice Institute-trained paramedics stabilize the soldier with a gaping chest wound and lift him onto a stretcher. It’s a “sniper shot” scenario, but the medical training military “med-techs” take at JIBC can be applied anywhere in the civilian world. “It was a call that could happen anywhere in Chilliwack or Vancouver or across the world in Afghanistan,” Michelle Finlay, JIBC program director, said after the Tuesday demonstration. “The med-techs that attend-
ed the call were trained here in Chilliwack,” she said. “That training is transferable to anywhere in this province.” The demonstration followed the official opening of JIBC’s permanent location at the Canada Education Park in Chilliwack. The 19 modular units that make up the new facility will be “the launch point” for “more and more programs in the Fraser Valley,” JIBC President Jack McGee said. The JIBC, with campuses in New Westminster and Maple Ridge, is already regarded as the “primary emergency response trainer” in B.C. for police officers, firefighters, search and res-
$1.25 1-12T CS17
cue technicians, court sheriffs, mediators, aboriginal leaders and more. The institute was one of the original partners in the creation of the education park, signing an MOU with the City of Chilliwack and the University of the Fraser Valley back in 2003. The CEP now includes the RCMP’s Pacific Region Training Centre and the Canada Border Services Agency, along with the new UFV campus and the new JIBC facility. McGee said the education park, intended to fill the gap left in the local economy when CFB Chilliwack closed, was the result of the vision of then-mayor
Chilliwack MLA John Les and CEPCO president John Jansen. Former mayor Clint Hames also carried the vision forward. “He was equally passionate about this location,” McGee said. Current Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz said the training offered by all the partners now located at the education park is important to the administration of justice in B.C. as well as the city’s economy “and will stand us in good stead for generations to come.” Advanced Education Minister Naomi Yamamoto said the new facility allows the JIBC “to continue its world-class training.” Continued: TRAINING/ p4