An on-going Beacon feature on planning -- to alert, inform, and prompt community action -- and to celebrate success!

Chair Tim van Alstine gave a comprehensive report on the activities of the association to James Bay residents at the annual general meeting of the James Bay Neighbourhood Environment Association (JBNEA) on April 11th. He reported on the continuing face of change in the community and the extensive work of various committees. He thanked all of the concerned individuals who give of their time and who give expression to their concerns about the quality of life in our community.

On the advice of the Executive the membership of the JBNEA voted to change the name of the organization to the "James Bay Community Association". The new name will bring the organization in line with the other neighbourhoods in Victoria, each of which has a community association. It will clarify the role of the association in comparison to similar community groups and make it easier to do internet searches to access information on James Bay. The name change will become official once it has been approved by the Registrar of Companies.

Watch this column for more on the new name next month.

Crystal Court -- Condo tower and art gallery project

Representatives from Westbank Properties of Vancouver and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) gave presentations for the proposed mixed use development at the Crystal Court site at 701 Belleville Street. In exchange for the increased density which will permit a multi-storey tower, the developer has committed to building a public exhibition space on the site.

This is intended to be a satellite space for the exhibition of contemporary artworks, with the gallery on Moss Street to be maintained for historic exhibitions and collection storage.

Is anyone else concerned that the AGGV was unable to operate two sites just a few years ago, when it took over operation of the Emily Carr Gallery on Wharf Street from the Provincial Archives? That unsuccessful attempt was in spite of a hefty financial subsidy from the Province to support the 2nd exhibition space.

Location, Location, Location

It would be great to have a more centrally located art gallery in downtown Victoria. But if this gallery is to serve "Greater Victoria" should it not a least acknowledge other communities and perhaps be a little closer to those taxpayers?

What about the concept of a Cultural Precinct? Could we not stretch it just a bit beyond a two block radius? How do downtown businesses feel about being left out of the huge boom of tourist dollars this new gallery is to attract? A new gallery located closer to the old Hudson Bay Building could make all of Victoria a cultural precinct. If the gallery has to be this close to the Royal British Columbia Museum to attract tourists, will it be able to maintain a separate identity?

How will the gallery’s important public funders respond to this project? Most funders (Canada Council, the BC Arts Council & the CRD) are interested in how well a gallery serves the local community. They may be no more impressed with a gallery located to serve tourists than the other municipalities in the CRD. That will leave Victoria taxpayers responsible for supporting the cost of gallery operations on two sites, while other communities in the CRD receive the current level of service, with no incentive to financially support the AGGV.

Who is running this city anyway?

We are told that bonus density is no longer applicable in James Bay and other municipalities. Then a developer comes along promising a new downtown art gallery if the city densifies his site by 400%. And, oh yes, will the city also move the boundary of James Bay so this can all happen?

The architect's presentation was a creative pastiche of ideas and images, many from projects by other architects. He seemed to spend most of his time indicating that you would barely be able to see his building from various locations. It was a proposal of shifting sands, leaving many unanswered questions. We can be sure that the tower of residences will be there but everything else seems pretty flexible.

The leap from designing condo towers to designing an art gallery must involve extensive research. But why should a community group like the JBNEA have to point out the importance of access for mobility challenged patrons to the site? Still much homework to be done.

They are only now doing the traffic study for the site. One assumes that traffic studies are not very important to a project if a large facility can be designed on a busy street without one. This bottleneck, where the major artery of Blanshard Street squeezes down into Belleville, is an important access point to the Legislative Precinct and to James Bay. The traffic should get very detailed consideration during the busy summer months, and not be a shoulder season study.

Upcoming

Preliminary discussions have been held with local developer Dennis Nyron and architect Frank D’Ambrosio regarding a redevelopment at 200 Douglas Street at Toronto. Details will be reported as they become available.

Next Month

The upcoming May meeting will feature a presentation by Carla Paplowski and Eleanor Seeton from the Spatial Sciences Laboratory at UVic. These scientists are the primary researchers involved in the air quality study at Ogden Point. The study, which will take up to a year to complete, is being led by UVic geography professor Peter Keller.

The study was commissioned by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority in conjunction with the JBNEA, the CRD, Vancouver Island Health Authority, the Provincial environment ministry and UVic's Dept. of Geography.

Join us at 7:30 pm on May 9th at New Horizons to discuss the parameters of the study and the implications for James Bay.In December of 2003 a bronze maquette depicting Emily Carr and her creatures was unveiled in the drawing room of her childhood home on Government Street. It has been on public display at various locations around Victoria, but now it has been purchased and will stay at Carr House permanently.