Bricks from the B.C. Gasworks building are so contaminated they’re unable to be saved without big bucks.
Jackie Teed, the city’s acting director of development services, said the building’s bricks are highly contaminated.
“They would each have to be individually decontaminated. But first they would need to be removed by hand from the building, which is extremely dangerous because of the condition it is in. There would be life-safety issues to getting those out of there,” she said. “Between all of that, the cost would be so high.”
The province, which owns the building at 231 12th St., has asked the city to process the demolition permit for the site without requiring the bricks to be salvaged. The site was originally used as a coal-gasification plant but was later used as a foundry, a paint manufacturing facility and a sash and door manufacturing operation.
Teed said the province will scan the building using a drone so no one has to go onto the site to do the work. The work is being done to ensure there’s a complete historic record of the building that’s deemed to have heritage significance.
A portion of the 1886 building’s roof caved in in March 2016.
On Oct. 16, council supported a recommendation to remove the Gas Works building from the city’s heritage register and to direct staff to continue working with the province to document the building, to process the permits required to demolish the building and remove all materials from the site.
Coun. Jaimie McEvoy included the building on a list of the Top 10 endangered sites that he wrote for the New Westminster Heritage Preservation Society in 2007. He voted against the recommendation.
“It’s a shame it got to where it was at and it’s a shame that the provincial government never really moved on doing anything with it. It’s a shame what happened with the storm, but nobody can change the levels of pollution that were identified. I think it’s really unfortunate,” he said. “It’s important to preserve working class and industrial heritage, and it’s difficult to do that because it’s expensive.”
McEvoy included the New Westminster Gas Company building on the list because of “its continued neglect” but also because of its great heritage value and potential for restoration. The building was designed by architect George W. Grant, who also designed Holy Trinity Cathedral.
“A 1997 report commissioned by city council rated the building as having fair to high integrity. An estimate of less than $500,000 was provided for the restoration of the site, including seismic upgrading and renovations to allow for community use,” he wrote in 2007. “The building is one of only two old coal gasification sites left in the province. The building and its site have twice been offered to the city by the province for one dollar, essentially a gift to the city. Concern about liability for pollution on the site, which does not seem to have been assessed, caused the city to turn down the offer.”
