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WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2010
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◗ WESTMINSTER PIER PARK
Wharves first to go BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com
The aging Westminster Pier deck is being demolished to pave the way for a future waterfront park. Dugal Purdie, project manager of the Westminster Pier Park project, said the project is proceeding according to schedule. “The marine contractor is working away,” he said. “He is working on deck demolition. He started pulling up the old timber, which he is planning to recycle.” The timbers started coming out after the asphalt surface was removed from the site. At the same time that demolition of the aging deck is being done at the waterfront site, city staff and consultants are working on the design. “The design is not yet complete, the detailed design,” Purdie said. “We are at something called the 75 per cent review stage.” Some residents have wondered why pile driving has yet to begin at the site, questioning if it’s related to ◗Park Page 9
Jason Lang/THE RECORD
Ring dinger: Joelson Del Rosario, No. 19, gets his just congratulations from his teammates after clubbing a home run in New Westminster’s opening game against Whalley at the major provincial Little League championships at Justin Morneau Field in Moody Park on July 24. Semifinal games begin at noon Saturday. The Little League provincial final is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.
Massey chair refuses role in theatre plan BY NIKI HOPE REPORTER
nhope@royalcityrecord.com
The chair of the Massey Theatre Society isn’t interested in running a new 1,000-seat theatre for the City of New Westminster and the school district. Mike Redmond told The Record that he opposes any plans that involve tearing down the 60-year-old theatre. “The main objective of the Massey Theatre Society is to operate the Massey Theatre – not to be the an arm of the school district or the city, to manage any project that they want us to manage,” said
cover start-up costs and losses for Redmond, who spoke as an indithe new theatre. vidual, not on behalf of the Massey Currently, the Massey costs Theatre Society board. “It’s about about $600,000 a year to operate. people having a connection to that The new theatre would start with building. That’s our job. It’s about little to no revenue, he said. protecting that building.” “Cleary, a private society of conThe new theatre the district is cerned citizens isn’t going to have proposing would be owned by the the pockets to deal with that,” he school district and leased to the said. city. The hope is that the Massey Mike Redmond The society formed to manTheatre Society would run the dayage an existing heritage building to-day operations of the facility. But Redmond said the plan was devised “because the school district wasn’t interestthrough “back-of-napkin type of strategiz- ed (in running it). That’s a lot different that ing,” and he questioned who was going to the city contracting out a society to manage
◗ RELATED STORY Burr president supports arts plan See page 3
it,” Redmond said. As a part of the theatre replacement plan, the school district is also offering $10,000 a month for up to 30 months to supplement salaries while the Massey Theatre is out of operation. That would cover the salary for one-and-a-half positions, Redmond said. Currently, the society employs six staff. Redmond believes it would cost much ◗Redmond Page 5
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