Category: In the News

Georgia Straight

Richmond’s upping its arts and culture game with the opening of a new, dedicated 15,154-square-foot building. Dubbed the Richmond Cultural Centre Annex, the hub includes dance studios, a pottery zone, and a gallery space for local artists to show their work.

“The Richmond Cultural Centre Annex is an exciting new hub that will play an important role in strengthening Richmond’s already strong and vibrant arts and culture community,” says Mayor Malcolm Brodie in a statement. “Not only will it complement our City’s existing cultural facilities, it will showcase and foster the creativity of many emerging and established local artists and performers.” …

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Stir

The City of Richmond announced the official opening today of its newest arts and culture hub, the Richmond Cultural Centre Annex, at the former site of the Minoru Place Activity Centre.

The city worked with a budget of $3.06 million to transform the old seniors centre into an extension of the adjacent Richmond Cultural Centre and Library, rather than demolishing it as previously planned. The provincial government contributed $2.1 million to the revitalization, and the federal government invested an additional $133,000.

“The Richmond Cultural Centre Annex is an exciting new hub that will play an important role in strengthening Richmond’s already strong and vibrant arts and culture community,” says Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie in a release. “Not only will it complement our city’s existing cultural facilities, it will showcase and foster the creativity of many emerging and established local artists and performers.” …

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Richmond News

The City of Richmond has been recognized as one of Canada’s most business-friendly municipalities by a commercial real estate association.

Richmond received the “Most Business Friendly” title in the National Association for Industrial and Office Parks’ (NAIOP) annual Awards for Municipal Excellence. The NAIOP is a North American organization for the commercial real estate industry

“The city received the award because its fees and approval timelines for industrial development encourage the creation of industrial space, which supports and welcomes local businesses and the economy,” said the City of Richmond. …

Photo – Mayor Malcolm Brodie and city councillors received “One to Watch” Golden Scissors Award from Canadian Federation of Independent Business

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Richmond News

“This proposed bus loop is an accident or accidents waiting to happen.”

This was the assessment of Drew Rickard of a TransLink plan that would see buses circling a block next to Garry Point Park.

Rickard and fellow Steveston resident Alex Sagert presented a petition with 275 names to the city council on Monday in opposition to the plan put forward by TransLink.

Rickard and Sagert are concerned for the safety of children and residents in the area with a proposal to move the current bus loop that is along Chatham Street to a temporary bus loop location next to Garry Point Park. …

While Mayor Malcolm Brodie said the situation on Chatham Street with the buses is a “bad situation,” Coun. Kash Heed replied that the proposed route would be “worse.”

The proposed new location for the transit hub will relocate parked buses away from Second Avenue, active bus stops will still be on Second Avenue for passenger drop-off and pickup.

The new configuration would have buses travelling southbound on Seventh Avenue, eastbound on Moncton Street and northbound on Sixth Avenue instead of using the streets north of Chatham. …

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Richmond News

The City of Richmond received a national award for its expansion of the Lulu Island Energy Company.

This is the third time the city has received the National Energy Globe Award from the Energy Globe Foundation, an Austrian-based non-profit organization, that recognizes projects focusing on energy efficiency, sustainability and the use of renewable energy or emission-free sources in more than 180 countries.

It previously received the 2013 National Energy Globe Award for the Alexandra District Energy Utility first phase, and the 2020 National Energy Globe Award for the Garden City expansion of the Alexandra District Energy Utility.

“The City of Richmond continues to be an international leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the sustainable delivery of environmentally friendly energy,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie.

“Over the next three decades, 70 per cent of our city’s growth will occur in and around the City Centre. This Lulu Island District Energy expansion will not only provide efficient low-carbon energy at competitive rates to residents and businesses in that area, but continue to meet our goals of net zero emissions by 2050.” …

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CTV News

A Steveston institution went up in flames Friday night, and fire crews say the building is a total loss.

Firefighters arrived at Super Grocer on No. 1 Road in Steveston shortly after 5 p.m. and were met with “heavy smoke” from three sides of the building, according to Asst. Deputy Chief Trevor Northrup of Richmond Fire Rescue.

He said there were no reports of anyone inside the building or any injuries from the blaze, but crews were unable to enter the structure to make sure of that.

Firefighters quickly escalated the call to a second alarm and spent much of the night battling the fire. …

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie was also on scene. He called the situation “a real disaster” for his city.

“It’s been here for many, many decades,” he said. “People have all kinds of stories about it.” …

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Richmond News

The City of Richmond could possibly go to court to see if they can over-rule the privacy commissioner and install high-resolution intersection cameras to help solve crimes.

The city already has cameras installed at 110 intersections to monitor traffic.

When city council originally installed these cameras about three years ago, the privacy commissioner said they needed to be set at low-resolution for privacy reasons.

This means the cameras can’t capture faces or licence plates.

City council is now asking for a feasibility study on high-definition intersection cameras as well as getting a pre-emptive court order to support them, given the privacy commissioner’s ruling. …

Mayor Malcolm Brodie said he’s spoken with the Solicitor-General Mike Farnworth “who I believe is fully in favour with the approach we want to take.”

The privacy commissioner, however, with whom Brodie has also spoken on the issue, seems to be “intractable” in his position.

Brodie said he doesn’t understand why private cellphone footage, or footage from dash-cams and private businesses are usable in court, but there’s a pushback on the city capturing video.

“Why all of a sudden because it’s local government that has a program, now we don’t trust it,” he said. “’It’s an incursion into our civil rights’ – I just don’t see it that way, not when you talk about the need to preserve public safety.”

In the end, city council voted to move forward with exploring the possibility of having these high-definition cameras. Wolfe and Gillanders voted against the motion. …

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Vancouver Sun

Richmond firefighters will spend Saturday combing through debris to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a popular Steveston grocery store.

Customers and staff were able to quickly evacuate when fire broke out around 5 p.m. Friday at the Super Grocer and Pharmacy on No. 1 Road near Moncton Street. No one was injured. …

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said many in the community have come to count on the store “and to have it taken away just instantly is a real loss to a lot of people in the Steveston and the Greater Richmond area.”

Brodie was told the fire started somewhere toward the back of the store and everyone inside got out quickly.

“It was a very short period before the whole store was engulfed in flames,” he said. …

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CityNews

Fire crews were called out to a fire at the Super Grocer and Pharmacy in the Richmond’s Steveston neighbourhood Friday evening.

A video sent to CityNews shows flames and smoke coming from the store at No. 1 Road and Moncton Road.

The video shows multiple firetrucks on scene as crews try to put out the fire.

Richmond Fire Rescue says the blaze started around 5 p.m. in the back of store.

“How the fire initially presented, it was extremely difficult to make entry with the level of smoke,” said Assistant Deputy Chief Trevor Northrup. “It was a deep-seated and well established fire, so it was a defensive approach.”

Thankfully the staff and customers inside at the time were all safely evacuated. …

“This is a business that’s been here for well over 40 years; people go to it as an institution.” Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie told CityNews. “I’m told by the firefighters and by the chief that it seems to have started in the back outside.”

Firefighters were seen trying to contain the flames from three different angles.

Brodie said that although the neighbouring structures around the grocery store may be safe, there was still a risk of the roof coming in.

“Because of the way the fire was burning, they couldn’t go into the structure itself,” Brodie said. …

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Richmond News

The City of Richmond will receive $36 million from the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) to help expedite new housing.

In exchange for the funding, the municipal government will streamline its application and review processes, change zoning and policies, and encourage affordable housing/student housing and transit-oriented development, which is expected to fast-track over 3,100 new homes within Richmond over the next 10 years, including over 1,000 homes within the next three years. …

Richmond mayor Malcolm Brodie added, “The funding will help the City implement eight specific initiatives to fast-track the creation of new housing units which will span the range of affordable home ownership – from market rentals to non-market and low-end market rentals to those needing supportive housing.” …

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