The city’s plan to demolish a portion of the downtown parkade and close Front Street to cars for at least eight weeks could “bankrupt” a downtown business owner.
Harm Woldring, who owns The Wine Factory, says his business will take a major – and likely fatal – hit when the city starts tearing down part of the parkade in front of his shop.
“The city has provided me with no information that gives me any assurance that my business will survive this project. None,” he recently told The Record.
Woldring, who announced he is seeking a seat on council this week, acknowledges that in the long run it will be better for the area once the parkade comes down, but said his wine business won’t survive to see it.
“My business will improve, but my business won’t be here,” he said. “It will be gone.”
Woldring would like to see the city delay the decision for a year until it has a better understanding of the impact of recent changes in the downtown with the opening of the Anvil Centre and the overall demand for parking.
“The city has dug themselves in, and they’ve said this is what everybody needs,” he said. “In my opinion, this is just all responses to pressure from developers.”
Along with The Wine Factory, businesses that will be impacted on Front Street include Localo Living, Antique Alley Movie props, and the soon-to-open Old Crow Coffee Co.
Localo Living owner Ana Matovinovic has “mixed” feelings about the plan. The area will benefit in the long run, but its business will likely take a hit during the demo, she said.
“The whole idea of it being another Cambie Street is looming,” she said, referring to the lengthy construction of the Canada Line, which caused major disruptions for business owners in that area.
The city held an information session for downtown business owners on the plans for the parkade demolition and rebuild last week. Attendees heard that the street in front of the shops will be closed to cars for about eight weeks. The city wants to begin construction in February. The project includes updates to the parkade, from Sixth to Fourth streets, which will remain intact. The project is estimated to cost $3.3 million.
Foot traffic will be able to access the area, but that’s not good enough for Woldring, who says he has trucks delivering materials that weigh thousands of pounds to his wine-making shop.
“They can’t unload this from a side street, which is on a hill,” he said.
Maintaining parking is one of the key issues for downtown businesses, Kendra Johnston, executive director at the Downtown New West Business Improvement Area, told The Record.
Tearing down the planned portion of the parkade will mean about one-third fewer parking spots, she said. “One of the conditions that mayor and council put in place, and the BIA agreed with, was that if they were going to take away a parkade, that they needed to ensure that there was sufficient parking replacement for that, so some of that will come from the parking stalls they will be putting on Front Street when they redo Front Street,” Johnston said.
The city intends to demolish approximately 305 parkade stalls and retain approximately 462 stalls. In addition, approximately 40 stalls will be created on the street below the west parkade, Julia Dugaro, a city planning analyst, told The Record.
The city’s new community facility, Anvil Centre, will also bring more parking to the area, Johnston said.
The project will include a complete overhaul of Front Street with new lighting, signs and beautification.
“The BIA is looking at the big picture, (but) we do understand that those Front Street merchants, during the process, are going to have some real challenges: access, noise is going to be a big challenge for everyone,” Johnston said.
But in the end, Johnston said, foot traffic, access and waterfront connectivity will improve.
“And that’s huge,” she said.
