Donations needed SPCA seeks help with medical bills for animals. Page 13 Class and sass Burlesque show helps open new entertainment venue. Page 34 Helping others Salvation Army celebrates 125 years in Nanaimo. Page 3
Raiders rise to first place Page 30
Celebrating
1988
2013
Years
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
www.nanaimobulletin.com
VOL. 25, NO. 49
City seeks input on Wellcox land By TamaRa CunningHam ThE NEwS BULLETiN
Nanaimo residents are being urged to share their vision of the south industrial waterfront during the city’s inaugural Harbour Fair. The South Downtown Waterfront Initiative has launched a new public campaign to tap into residents’ hopes for a transformed industrial waterfront. The committee, tasked by the City of Nanaimo to come up with long-term goals for the water’s edge, will host the Harbour Fair in October. The event is aimed at giving people a chance to tour the industrial waterfront, meet landowners and share ideas for the city’s “last urban frontier.” A new website was also recently created for the public to share their vision for area. The land, spanning the Wellcox yard to the border of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, has “significant potential” for economic development, mixed-use housing and a new transportation hub, according to Dave Witty, chairman of the waterfront initiative committee. But before committee members start to create their new guide for the future of the site, they want to hear from citizens on the ideas they believe are worth pursuing, he said. “I think there is an appetite on the part of the public to give comment on the future of Nanaimo in a fuller sense – including this,” Witty said about the upcoming Harbour Fair. “I urge people to please get involved ... we are trying to do a process here that’s going to be respectful and helpful to all.” The Harbour Fair launches Oct. 5 with tour buses taking people throughout the site, much of which has been barred to the public. Witty said he suspects very few residents have been able to explore the site. u See ‘COMMITTEE’ /6
CHRIS BUSH/THe NewS BUlleTIN
Peter Roosen, left, and his father, Louis, show off an historical mining train and railway constructed in his father’s yard on Allsop Road. The project is currently under scrutiny by the Regional District of Nanaimo.
Historic project unlikely to get derailed
I
owNeR woRkiNg with regional district on solution.
By TamaRa CunningHam ThE NEwS BULLETiN
A private, outdoor rail ‘museum’ won’t likely be derailed, despite coming under fire from the Regional District of Nanaimo. Peter Roosen, a U.S. businessman and former Dragon’s Den winner, has run afoul
of the Regional District of Nanaimo for building a private, fully operational historic railway in Nanaimo without permits. The railroad, built on his parents’ Jingle Pot property, has tunnels, bridges and walls with questionable structural integrity, according to regional district staff members. They are now working with Roosen to address issues on site, but could seek enforcement action if there is no voluntary compliance before January.
Roosen started the garden project four years ago. With the help of history buffs like Vancouver Island author T.W. Paterson, he said he unearthed centuryold pieces of railway, coal carts and locomotives in the Nanaimo region and reconstructed the pieces. No artifact on his site is younger than 100 years old and much of the items have been restored to work. Roosen can now fire up a train that chugs along the old track in front of his par-
ent’s house, near a replica coal mine, bridge and tunnels. Roosen claims none of the structures on site fall under the district’s requirements for building permits, which is why he didn’t approach the district for permission. He plans to work with the RDN this winter and while he has threatened to disassemble and ship the historic project to the U.S, he said he doesn’t anticipate the project will be derailed. u See ‘RAIL’ /6
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