It was a year many Royal City residents won’t soon forget.
As we look forward to a new year, we also look back on 2013 – a year filled with more drama in New West than a reality show. The year started out with a sighting of a bird that’s never been seen before in Canada and ended with a tragic murder of a 19-year-old Surrey boy in a completely random attack.
In between, there were many highs and lows.
On the upside, construction of much-needed new schools appears to be on track as École Qayqayt takes shape on the former St. Mary’s site. On the downside, two of the city’s most prominent heritage buildings on Columbia Street were gutted by a fire in October.
Throughout the year, the city and residents spoke out about increased traffic – a continuing story as a toll hike takes effect on the Port Mann Bridge this month.
City council and many community members voiced opposition to a proposed coal facility across the river at Fraser Surrey Docks, and the tragic railway derailment in Lac Megantic, Quebec brought railway safety issues to the forefront.
Take a look back at some of the year’s headlines starting below and continuing on pages 8 and 9.
JANUARY
Friends and foes of the paramount Gentlemen’s Club faced off on opposing sides of the street in uptown New Westminster. As part of a social justice class project, students at Dr. Charles Best Secondary petitioned city council to revoke the Paramount’s licence, prompting supporters to rally on the businesses behalf.
Birders from near and far descended on Queen’s Park after a red-flanked bluetail that would normally be wintering in Southeast Asia arrived in New Westminster. It was the first time this bird has been reported in Canada.
FEBRUARY
The Bailey Bridge was assessed and found to have a couple of significant splits on trusses. It meant the one-lane bridge that connects New Westminster to Coquitlam had to be temporarily closed so repairs could be made.
Port Metro Vancouver officials appeared before city council to offer information about a proposed coal transfer facility at Fraser Surrey Docks and to promise that “fugitive” coal dust will be addressed as part of the application’s review process.
MARCH
The New Westminster School District announced that secretary-treasurer Brian Sommerfeldt wouldn’t be returning to the district and was pursuing other opportunities. Shortly before Sommerfeldt went on medical leave, the New Westminster district parent advisory council contemplated a motion to request that he be replaced but didn’t vote on the motion. (The Record later learned through a freedom of information request that Sommerfeldt would receive $195,000 in severance for his four years of employment with the district.)
New Westminster residents faced a 2.9 per cent tax increase in 2013, with staff projecting further increases in the years ahead as Anvil Centre and an expanded Queensborough Community Centre impacted the budget.
APRIL
New Westminster School District broke ground for the new $23.2 million École Qayqayt Elementary School on the former St. Mary’s Hospital site. The groundbreaking marked the first of three planned school construction projects in New Westminster, with a new middle school on the John Robson Elementary School site and a replacement for New Westminster Secondary School to follow.
The Quayside Community Board’s No Coal Rally attracted more than 40 people, as well as members of the Raging Grannies. Fraser Surrey Docks had applied to Port Metro Vancouver to operate a coal transfer facility at its facility, which is across the river from the Quay and Queensborough neighbourhoods.
Several New Westminster residents were shaken after taking part in the Boston Marathon and finding themselves in the vicinity of a bomb that exploded near the finish line. The bomb left three dead and hundreds injured.
Longtime city employee Lisa Spitale was named the city’s new chief administrative officer, replacing Paul Daminato, who retired. Spitale is the first woman to fill the top staff position in city hall.
MAY
Judy Darcy retained the NDP’s hold on the Royal City, but her party suffered a devastating defeat in the provincial election that most pundits predicted the NDP to win. Darcy, a rookie MLA, took over from Dawn Black, who retired from politics.
The New Westminster school board cut about 60 positions in order to balance its budget. Cuts made to balance the books included three administrative positions and about 60 support staff, including 27 special education positions.
The newly expanded Queensborough Community Centre opened for business. The $7.67-million expansion project includes a branch library, police work spaces, an expanded fitness centre, and a licensed child-care centre.
JUNE
The New Westminster School District ended its fiscal year with a shortfall of $4.4 million, which includes a $1.6 million deficit from this year and a $2.8 million deficit carried forward from the previous year.
A school photo from a Grade 2 class at Herbert Spencer Elementary School went viral on the Internet after parents of a boy in a wheelchair expressed concern that he was segregated from his classmates by being positioned far away from his peers. Media around the world, including the Toronto Star, Washington Post and the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom, covered the story.
JULY
Longtime school district critic Wendy Harris raised concerns about the use of “safe rooms” for special needs students and fear the recent cuts to support staff will mean the spaces will be used more often as a way to manage distressed children. School district officials denied the rooms would be used more frequently because of staff cutbacks, and noted the space is used to help children whose sensory systems become overloaded in classrooms and become distressed.
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr suggested the city might need to modernize the lancers dance at the May Day banquet, a tradition that sees the members of the Royal Lancers dance with girls in the May Queen suite.
Fraser Health embarked on a $5-million renovation to the emergency department at Royal Columbian Hospital. The renovation aims to improve safety and infection control measures, create more space for trauma patients and enhance the department’s ability to meet standards of care.
AUGUST
Two women who lived in the same apartment building were found dead within two weeks. Autopsies conducted following the deaths of 48-year-old Karen Nabors and 45-year-old Jill Lyons were inconclusive. Following the second death, police issued a public warning to women working as online escorts. As the year came to a close, police had yet to confirm the cause of death of the women.
Thousands of people descend on the downtown for the first Columbia StrEAT Food Truck Festival. Not expecting crowds of 15,000 to 20,000 people, many of the food trucks ran out of food early.
SEPTEMBER
A potential school strike was averted when the Canadian Union of Public Employees reached a deal with the provincial government that called for a 3.5 per cent wage increase for support staff over two years. The union’s collective agreements were negotiated under the province’s “cooperative gains mandate,” which means school districts have to pay for any wage increases.
Volunteers and frontline workers from Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter gathered outside the New Westminster police station to protest what they called the police’s failure to protect women from violence. The protest was in response to the handling of the deaths of two women in New Westminster in August.
OCTOBER
Many community members expressed concern when it was announced that Thrifty Foods will close in Sapperton. Canada’s Competition Bureau ordered Sobeys to sell 23 grocery stores in Western Canada, including the Thrifty Foods in Sapperton, before it would approve a $5.8-billion purchase of Safeway Canada.
Two of New Westminster’s most prominent historic commercial buildings were left in rubble after fire destroyed the E.L. Lewis Block and the Hamley Block on Oct. 10. The fire caused millions dollars of damage, destroyed more than 20 businesses and left other covered in soot and smelling of smoke. The city showed its “magic” by rallying behind businesses impacted by the fire and holding fundraisers for a relief fund.
Turmoil continued to plague the Hyack Festival Association, which set a “showdown” meeting where the two camps vying for control of theorganization were set to oust the other side from the board. On the morning of the meeting, five directors on one side resigned, while those on the other side of the battle cancelled the scheduled meeting, called a board meeting and named five new directors.
New Westminster city council entered into the Hyack Festival Association mess by taking control of this year’s Santa Claus Parade. The city also asked the registrar of societies to investigate the conduct of the association, and asked for financial records and procedures to conduct an independent audit. It also suspended funding to the organization until its outstanding governance issues are resolved.
Hundreds of people attended a rally on New Westminster’s waterfront to protest a proposed coal transport facility at Fraser Surrey Docks.
New Westminster school district closed its controversial business company in China after changes to provincial rules made it next to impossible to continue. The business company had been turning a profit in recent years. A private company is taking over the school and the English program in China.
NOVEMBER
The contributions of community members and businesses were honoured in the 2013 Platinum Awards. Patrick Johnstone was named New Westminster Citizen of the Year, while Keila Stark was selected Junior Citizen of the Year and Katherine Freund-Hainsworth received the Bernie Legge Cultural Award.
The City of New Westminster announced it is considering construction of a district energy system in conjunction with the expansion of Royal Columbian Hospital. The facility would generate energy through wood chip heating or sewage recovery.
A replacement for the aging New Westminster Secondary School moved closer to reality when city council agreed to contribute $10.7 million toward construction of a new Massey Theatre. The school district viewed the move as a “momentous” occasion, as it’s the final cornerstone for the district to move forward with the high school project.
DECEMBER
New Westminster unveiled a new vision for the waterfront that includes 800 housing units and a mix of retail and commercial space at the Larco site. The new vision calls for fewer towers than what had been proposed for the site in the past. At the same time, the city adopted the downtown parking strategy, which calls for the demolition of a portion of the Front Street parkade.
A 19-year-old man was left in a coma and later died after a “completely random” attack that was allegedly motivated by robbery. A 16-year-old was charged in connection to the assault.
