S TANDARD TERRACE
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VOL. 27 NO. 5
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Latest hot commodity? Hotels By ANNA KILLEN ADD HOTEL rooms to the latest list of developments just started or being contemplated here. On top of last week’s long anticipated start of construction on the 100 room, five-storey Sunshine Inn Executive Suites on Hwy16, last week’s announcement of the intended purchase of Chances Terrace by an Alberta-based hospitality conglomerate, means another hotelier has jumped into the Terrace scene. Pomeroy Lodging announced
May 13 it wants to buy Chances Terrace from the current owners, Lucky Dollar Bingo Management Ltd., with an intended closing date of June 30 pending approval from British Columbia Lottery Corporation and the provincial gaming policy and enforcement branch. But the company is interested in more than just the local gaming facility. Pomeroy, which began in B.C.’s Peace region and operates hotels, restaurants, and gaming facilities across B.C. and Alberta, has indicated its intention to break into the hotel market here.
Terrace has “been on our radar for a little while,” said Pomeroy president Ryan Pomeroy, speaking at the Chances Terrace property late last week. “We own and operate the gaming facility in Fort St. John and we’re in the hotel business, and Terrace fits well with our business model. We only operate in small, northern communities, so there’s been a lot of similarities to other markets we operate in, so it’s a good fit.” Smaller, northern towns are key to the company’s business model, he said.
“We put a lot of money back into the communities we operate in,” he said. “We can have more of an impact and be a better corporate citizen in smaller cities rather than someplace like Vancouver.” And Pomeroy said he’d “love to” operate a hotel in Terrace. “We’re very interested and actively looking at expanding our business here in Terrace,” he said, noting that a hotel wouldn’t likely be built near the gaming facility but on another property in the area. That puts the amount of potential new lodging facilities at four.
For now, Smithers developer Kim Tran’s Sunshine Inn is the only one where construction has begun. The city and a Calgary company called Superior Lodging announced a deal in April 2013 for the latter to buy a large piece of the former Terrace Co-op site for $877,500. At the time, Superior Lodging was contemplating a 100-room hotel, a pool, a waterslide and other amenities.
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Local gov’ts receive help By JOSH MASSEY THE PROVINCIAL government says it’s going to give northwestern B.C. local governments up to $1 million to handle growth pressures tied to industrial development. The announcement was made at city hall by minister of community, sport and cultural development Coralee Oakes during a visit to Terrace last Friday. “The item that was the most significant and important for me is how to prepare the northwest communities for the great opportunity but also the great challenges we have ahead,” said Oakes of her first year as MLA in charge of her own ministry, adding that it will be “the measurement of how I do in this position.” The money will flow in two equal streams for assessment and for planning – one to figure out what water, sewer, road and other projects are needed and the other to adapt land use and other associated bylaws as industrial expansion takes place. Oakes said she recognized the $150,000 promised to the northwest by premier Christy Clark in September wasn’t sufficient to help communities deal with the impacts of industrial growth. “I went back with what I had heard from the communities and I said ‘look, this isn’t really going to be enough to help the communities to prepare,’” she said. Regional districts and municipalities in northwestern B.C. will be able to apply for the money through the Northern Development Initiative Trust which, along with representatives of the provincial government, will help groups develop proposals and decide how the money is allotted. “Northern Development Initiative Trust is our partner on this and I think it’s a great fit because Northern Development is from the north and it’s made up of community members in the north who sit on the board,” said Oakes.
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MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO
■■ Riding along SUSAN JEPHSEN and her quarter-horse Target take a break during their ride along Graham Ave. May 15 in 23 C weather and sunshine. The pair are members of the Totem Saddle Club.
Sharing art
Proactive ideas
Close call
Centennial Christian students add some colour to local buildings \COMMUNITY A11
Police officer’s new job helps communities make healthier choices \NEWS A14
North Coast Nightmares come close to beating Quesnel at home bout \SPORTS A27