Traditions renewed Empire Days celebrations return to days of old. Page 22 Choral gala Singers from around the province gather at Port Theatre. Page 30 So close Junior A Timbermen drop lacrosse home opener by 11-10 score. Page 5
Welcome ashore Page 3
Under the Sun!
www.nanaimobulletin.com
TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2013
VOL. 25, NO. 6
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Hotel proposal on front burner NEDC working with Chinese investors for past four months By ToBy gorMan ThE NEwS BULLETiN
TOBY GORMAN/The News BulleTiN
get out and vote
Darlene Jepson took advantage of advance voting Friday at the Royal Canadian Legion on East Wellington Road to cast her vote in the 40th provincial general election. B.C. Elections says advance voting was steady, and is expecting a strong voter turnout before voting stations close today (May 14) at 8 p.m.
Stakeholders mull future of learning alternatives By Jenn Mcgarrigle ThE NEwS BULLETiN
More hands-on, project-based learning and the establishment of a centralized trades academy in Nanaimo school district are part of a vision for the future of the learning alternatives program. School officials want to bring the program more in line with 21st century learning practices such as applying classroom-gathered knowl-
edge to real-world problems and allowing students to pursue areas that are applicable to career goals. “It’s about meeting the needs of our students and offering educational options that are different from a regular classroom environment,” said Tim Davie, principal of the learning alternatives programs. “[Learning alternative students] have opted for a different learning environment.” The district has both junior and senior learning alternatives in sep-
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arate buildings, but the proposed facilities plan recommends relocating these programs to Nanaimo District Secondary School. Davie said the proposed restructuring includes one alternatives centre encompassing Grades 10-12 students and adults; Grade 8 and 9 students would remain in their catchment schools, as decided by trustees during next year’s budget deliberations. u See ‘TRUSTEES’ /6
China’s 13th largest travel agency is just a few steps away from committing to building a hotel adjacent to the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, says Sasha Angus, chief executive officer of the Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation. Suzhou Youth Travel Services, headquartered near Shanghai, has indicated it is willing to build a 200-room, $50-million hotel in downtown Nanaimo to accommodate an estimated 70,000 tourists expected to visit the Harbour City through its travel programs annually. Angus said the Suzhou proposal is attractive because the company is not seeking subsidies that other proposals have requested, and that the sheer volume of visitors expected will result in high occupancy ratings at their own hotel while spilling over to existing hotels that have recently been struggling to fill its rooms due to a decrease in tourism. “We’ve been working with them for about four months now,” said Angus. “They’re in a place where they’d like to close on this as soon as possible. Another thing that was attractive to us is their ability to not only build to capacity, but to also add significant demand, which will also fulfill the conference centre’s needs.” Mayor John Ruttan said concerns from other local hotel operators have been addressed, noting that the new hotel will attract people here who would not normally have considered Nanaimo as a holiday destination. “This model of bringing so many people here has virtually eliminated the anti-hotel position of the Nanaimo Hotel Association,” said Ruttan. “Members in Nanaimo were concerned another hotel would dilute the pool and already low occupancy rates ... But this is a whole new number of clientele we wouldn’t have otherwise.” u See ‘DEAL /4
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