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Saturday,
May 15, 2010
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Elder residents thrilled by lodge
Bernice Trick Citizen staff
If you want to hear the real story of living at the new Gateway Lodge in Prince George, you need to talk to the residents.
They’ll tell you exactly how it is in the $42 million retirement home that held its official opening Friday.
Resident Gladys Griffin said she just “thanks anyone who had a hand in the planning” of her new home.
“I’ve found security, friendship and fun. Our units are lovely and spacious, and the caregivers listen to all our cares and woes with a smile, and sometimes that’s not easy,” Griffin said during the official ceremony held in the 50-unit assisted living area that began accepting residents in March.
“It’s a beautiful place,” said resident Anne Orton.
“My family sees me with a happy face.”
She added the staff, management and food are all great, and the cof-
fee breaks with the little treats are a bonus. As well, resident Joan Welch said she enjoys the “range motion” exercises, bingo, entertainment and 24-hour emergency response.
Assisted living is for those who still live fairly independently and don’t require complex care.
When assisted living turns into long-term care, it’s a short move to the other side of the facility where 94 complex care residents are housed with around-the-clock nursing care, wheelchair accessibility, patient lifts and support devices.
MLA Pat Bell (Prince George North) said he likes that idea of just moving down the hall when that time comes. “It’s a known fact that the less moves a person has to make means a better quality of life.” Shirley Bond, MLA for Prince George-Valemount sees the Gateway, constructed mainly of wood by Western Industrial Construction, as warm and physically attractive with special details that make it an award-winning place.
—See BUILDING on page 3
Lakeland tapped for bioenergy
Gordon Hoekstra Citizen staff
UNBC announced Friday that Lakeland Mills has been awarded a $1.7-million contract to supply wood residues from its sawmill in Prince George to feed the university’s $15-million bioenergy heating plant.
Lakeland Mills, located off of River Road, will supply about 300 to 400 semi-truck loads of bark and sawdust to the plant when it is completed later this year.
Lakeland Mills is part of the Prince George-based Sinclar Group Forest Products, which also owns the shuttered Winton Global mill in Prince George and stakes in other mills in Vanderhoof and Fort St. James.
“The Sinclar Group is proud to support the university in furthering its position as Canada’s Green University while establishing northern British Columbia as a bioenergy centre of excellence,” said Sinclar
Group president Greg Stewart.
Stewart noted that it is paramount for traditional sawmilling companies to find diversified uses and markets for all their products, which now includes uses for residual wood that in the past had been viewed as waste.
The UNBC project — which includes upgrades to roads and other infrastructure — has been supported with funding by the provincial and federal government.
The bioenergy plant, utilizing equipment from B.C.-based Nexter-ra Systems Corp., has been touted as a showcase of green energy and environmentally-friendly technology.
It’s estimated the project will reduce UNBC’s natural gas use by 85 per cent and reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 3,400 tonnes.
UNBC officials stressed the project will produce fine particulate air pollution levels that are at the same level or lower than for natural gas.
—See PLANT on page 3
Hoekstra nominated for national honour
Citizen staff
HOEKSTRA
The Citizen’s Gordon Hoekstra is a finalist for the Canadian Association of Journalists’ award of outstanding journalism in 2009.
Hoekstra’s piece, “Downtown Fix,” is competing against four other stories in the community newspaper category.
Winners will be announced May 29 at the CAJ Awards Banquet in Montreal.
A long empty sidewalk along George Street on a Tuesday morning.
Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
Changes aplenty in downtown P.G.
Gordon Hoekstra Citizen staff
There have been some changes in the past year in the heart of Prince George’s downtown, which has seen little impact from decades of downtown revitalization plans, particularly along historic George Street.
The Ramada Hotel is in the midst of a $7.5-million facelift, which includes a newly-minted Starbucks.
The former B&B Music building, which housed the Javva Mugga Mocha coffee
shop, and burned down three years ago, has been rebuilt.
On the ground-level is Une Petite Cafe. Above are offices.
Several properties across from the Ramada have been purchased by developers whose principal is Dan McLaren.
The P.G. Hotel and its liquor store, also across from the Rama-da, have been shut down since early April.
Its clientele — which used to hang out along George Street, in-
At times, particularly in the morning, the sidewalks are eerily quiet.
toxicated, sometimes belligerent and noisy — are gone.
At times, particularly in the morning, the sidewalks are eerily quiet.
The P.G. Hotel was purchased by the City of Prince George. The building is slated for demolition but not immediately.
Although there is much speculation that a provin-cially-planned Wood Design and Innovation Centre, with a link to the University of Northern B.C., will be built there, the city says only that the property it paid $2.5 million for is slated for redevelopment.
Also on George Street, the Keg is planning a significant investment to upgrade its property.
The streets and alleys downtown are also cleaner, although it’s still possible to locate a discarded prescription bottle of methadone.
This particular bottle was discarded in the empty lot beside the decrepit laundromat rooming house on George Street.
— See DOWNTOWN on page 17
sports
Flyers rocket into legend! /9
at home
Crabby apples in season /19
news
Cyclists killed /8
lifestyles
Bronzed Rocky takes shape /34
diversions
Annie’s Mailbox . . . .2
Bridge............35
Comics........36-38
Crossword.........36
Horoscope 2, 35
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