A plan to tackle dirty dishes at Anvil Centre isn’t going to cost $100,000.
The City of New Westminster’s 2015 capital plan included $100,000 for a dishwasher for the catering services at Anvil Centre. Mayor Jonathan Cote contacted staff and verified the plan included a $100,000 dishwasher after being called about the item by the Record.
“It turns out the dishwasher isn’t that expensive. I wish I had been told that before I talked to you,” Cote later told the Record. “The dishwasher is actually quite a bit cheaper.”
Cote has heard a few comments about the pricy appliance while he’s been out and about around town.
“I don’t even think there is a dishwasher made anywhere that costs that much money,” said Vali Marling, general manager of Anvil Centre. “When you look at the Vancouver Convention Centre, they are huge and so much larger than we are, and I am quite sure their dishwasher is no where near that amount of money. It is just the way it was labeled in the budget.”
Although the capital budget included $100,000 for a dishwasher for catering services at Anvil Centre, the project includes other items, including HVAC (heating, ventilation and air condition) systems.
“In the budget, this whole area we have to develop was identified as ‘dishwasher’. The actual dishwasher is a fraction of that. It’s $10,000 or $15,000,” Marling said. “Everything was lumped into one budget. For whatever reason, it was labeled as a dishwasher.”
Anvil Centre, the city’s conference and community facility, opened at 777 Columbia St. in September 2014. The kitchen already has a dishwasher, bit it’s not meeting the conference centre’s needs.
“The dishwasher that we currently have, the capacity is no where near what we need to wash dishes. We will have breakfast, lunch and dinner and two coffee breaks each day for a conference. We just literally cannot get the dishes through the dishwasher fast enough,” Marling said. “The dishes start piling up, and you get to the point where you are almost running out of dishes.”
According to Marling, it’s not unusual for each person attending an evening reception or dinner to require 12 to 15 pieces of glassware and dishware. The new dishwasher will be used for china, glassware and silverware, while the existing dishwasher will clean pots and pans and dishes used for food preparation.
“We don’t need the super heavy dishwasher to wash the pots and pans,” Marling said. “The other dishwasher will be china, glassware and silverware. That’s where we are challenged.”
