Nanaimo to look at temporary options for vacant Jean Burns hole
Eastmure said the property is an extremely difficult site to redevelop, which could be behind the lack of interest. (Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7FM)
It has been ten years since a fire swept through the Jean Burns building leaving a large hole in the centre of Nanaimo’s downtown.
The City of Nanaimo purchased the land at 6 Commercial St. in 2021. The city has been looking for a developer to bring housing to the site. Five years after the city purchased the lot, the hole continues to sit empty.
The hole has become an eye sore in the heart of downtown Nanaimo, and Nanaimo City Council is looking to address the situation. At a special city council meeting earlier this week, Councillor Hilary Eastmure, put forward a motion, passed by mayor and council, for staff to look at temporary solutions to bring life back to the hole.
Eastmure explained the motion in studio at CHLY, which is located on Lois Lane, next to the Jean Burns hole.
“When council was elected, we talked about our priorities, and everyone on council said they wanted to deal with that situation and get something built in that hole by 2026,” Eastmure said.
She said that following the city’s purchase of 6 Commercial St., they have worked on finding a developer for the property. Most recently, this past year the city put the property up on BC Builds. BC Builds is a housing program created by BC Housing intended to fast track the building of rental housing for middle-income families. The city was hoping to find a developer and nonprofit housing provider through the program who could use government grants to build rental housing with commercial space.
“The city was looking for a 60-year lease at no cost to any developer that wanted to meet the criteria consistent with BC Builds,” she said. “But unfortunately, nothing materialized.”
Eastmure said the property is an extremely difficult site to redevelop, which could be behind the lack of interest.
“It's quite constrained because of the shape, because it has roads immediately on both sides, and it's a small site,” she said. “Because of the geotechnical issues with our downtown having been built on fill, and we know that there's mine shafts underneath, et cetera, et cetera, there's a lot of unknowns with building there, and with the new BC building code seismic requirements, it's going to be difficult.”
While the property is in a prime location in downtown Nanaimo, she said she understands that the site is not necessarily the most appealing to developers. As the lot sits empty, Eastmure said she hears confusion from locals about why nothing has been done with it yet.
“I think the fact that the city actually bought that property in 2021 is not widely known. I know we did have some wraps on the fence with some information about the site for a little while, but some of that is sort of falling down,” she said. “I think there's a lot of curiosity about why there's nothing there and what might potentially happen there. At this point, I think people are sort of desperate to see anything other than just a pit.”
She said while they have been trying to find a permanent solution for the hole, it has gotten to the point where nothing is going to happen to the property unless they get creative.
“In speaking to the community, I'm hearing lots of cool ideas about what it could be used for as an interim use until development conditions improve,” she said.
Eastmure said she wants staff to look at things the city can do with the hole in the interim.
“I've just been hearing so many cool ideas about what could happen there, like a mini amphitheatre space or food truck parking or like a pop-up container bar or container shop situation,” she said. “I also think something like a community garden space using raised beds and having some trees in that area with some seating could be really cool.”
She said her personal favourite idea she has heard is a temporary skateboard park.
“I think that would actually be really fun to bring people downtown. You could have a combination of uses like the food truck parking, some temporary skate ramp features, some raised beds,” she said. “It could actually become a really cool community gathering space.”
She said she would love to see the space reactivated and made vibrant and fun while the city continues to look for a permanent use for the property. Eastmure said her ultimate dream for a potential new building would be for it to showcase local arts and culture like the former building once did.
“I remember the fire in 2016, and it was really devastating because that site had a lot of artist studios in it, affordable workspaces for artists,” she said. “So I would love to see a future site include not just affordable housing for workers who work downtown, senior students, families, but also dedicated affordable workspace for artists because we have so many working artists in Nanaimo and they need space. So a live-work situation could be really cool.”
City of Nanaimo staff will return with a report on options for a temporary use of the hole at a later Nanaimo city council meeting. Council is currently on break with the next meeting scheduled for September 21st.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.
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