107th Year - Week29
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
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RECYCLING WORKS Curbside recycling program successful.
NEWS/A3
TAKING ON TYHEE
BRONZE MEDALS Strauss brings home Olympic hardware.
SPORTS/A8
More than 50 participants braved the heat and raced around Tyhee Lake in the triathlon last Sunday. For the full story and photos from the annual event, see Page A9.
PUB RENOS
Kendra Wong photo
A once popular bar is being repurposed.
THREE RIVERS/B12
Construction business is booming By Ryan Jensen Smithers/Interior News
INSIDE LETTERS A7 SPORTS A8 COMMUNITY A14 OUR TOWN A24 THREE RIVERS B1 CLASSIFIEDS B4
The construction business is booming in Smithers. According to figures released at their July 8 regular meeting of council, the Town of Smithers has issued building permits for a total of $12.4 million worth of projects so far this year. In contrast, at this time last year building permits for only about $2.5 million worth of projects had been issued. Of this year’s total, $4.7
million comes from the second arena project, said Smithers Mayor Taylor Bachrach, but even without it there are numerous significant projects underway right now. But this isn’t the end of it. Bachrach said he expected to see another $6 to $7 million in projects receive permits before the end of the 2014 construction season. Interestingly, permits have been issued for a mix of commercial and residential projects, like the 31-unit adult living complex on Princess Ave.
and the Smithers Mall redevelopment, he pointed out. “[The Smithers Mall] has sat in the same condition for a lot of years and now we have a new owner who sees it as a worthy investment,” Bachrach said. “Part of it is the general economic climate. People are feeling positive about Smithers’ future. There isn’t a direct relationship with what [development] is happening to the west of us but I think generally people are feeling positive about the economic climate and feeling that Smithers is a
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good community to invest in.” Bachrach said lately he has been hearing from contractors who are saying they are having a hard time keeping up with the demand. “One contractor said he hasn’t seen it this busy since the ‘70s and another one said he could hire several more employees if he could find them so it seems to me that everyone who can swing a hammer has work right now and it’s certainly good to see.” Mark Allen, the Town of Smithers director of
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development services, said 2007 and 2008 were busy years for single-family residential and commercial construction also but those years were nothing like the current one. “2014 will be the most multi-family residential construction since I’ve been here,” Allen said. The highest value in recent memory for the Town of Smithers came in 2007 and 2010, when almost $16 million and about $17.5 million, respectively, in residential and commercial construction permits were issued.