2011 rediscover downtown nanaimo

REDISCOVERD O W N T O W N N A N A I M OD O W N T O W N N A N A I M O

RENEW.RESTORE.REVITALIZE.

2011

2 Nanaimo News Bulletin Saturday, September 24, 2011 www.nanaimobulletin.com

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BY MITCH WRIGHT

Things are getting busy downtown andDiana Krall Plaza is at the centre of it all.

Since the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Associationtook over management of events in the square last spring, more and more people have visited, whether for special events or just to check it out.

“We’re trying to use the plaza in different ways, so there’salways someone in there,” said Corry Hostetter, DNBIA general manager. “We want to get people using it.”

Since taking over, the once-idle space has become a go-to location for community events or event promotions, such as the flash mob pillow fight held in early September to promothe Fringetastic theatre festival.

There have been about a half-dozen big events through the summer, including the Downtown Show ’n Shine car show,which took over all of Commercial Street in mid-August.

“That was way bigger than we had even anticipated,” Hostetter said. “It was just shoulder-to-shoulder down there.”

The Livesite big-screen is also being used more often to bring people together for big TV events – such as the Stanley Cup finals or Jack Layton’s state funeral.

“The vision is just to keep it busy,” Hostetter said. “For spring and summer, we’d like to at least have something once a week

in the plaza.”A few picnic tables are already in place, but Hostetter says

the plan is for more to encourage people to eat lunch and just spend time in the square.

Adding more live music should also help improve the ambi-ence, and that could include more use of the Livesite screen, with plans in the works to screen live music events taking placeelsewhere in the community.

The DNBIA is also looking at working with the city on more bike racks and ‘greening’ of the space.

“It’s really a wide open space for events and so far, we’ve had lots of compliments on it,” said Hostetter.

ARTYPPLAZA

in the

Diana Krall Plaza plays bigger role in downtown events under DNBIA

ABOVE: People gather for lunch or relaxation at the picnic tables in Diana Krall Plaza, which is seeing a surge in activity since the DNBIA took over book-ing and planning events. LEFT: Van-couver Canucks fans react during the Stanley Cup Finals, which was aired on the Lives-ite big screen in the plaza last spring.

PHOTOS BY

MARK CORBETT, DNBIA

AND CHRIS BUSH THE NEWS BULLETIN

MoreINSIDE

Cover and some insidephotography courtesy Mark Corbett, DNBIA.

4 City claims Canada’stop street title

5671011121415

Station renovation chugging forward

Mall revitalization taking shape

Military displays find new home

New corporation pushes city economy

Cruise terminal bringing dividends

Never-ending entertainment

City moves into electric vehicle era

Trail tracks city’ssignature tasty treat

www.nanaimobulletin.com Saturday, September 24, 2011 Nanaimo News Bulletin 3

BY TOBY GORMAN


The ability to not only survive, but prosper, in an era of suburban development has earned downtown Nanaimo’s Commercial Street nationwide applause through anational contest hosted by the CanadianInstitute of Planners.

From more than 6,000 nominations and four months of voting, Commercial Streetwas voted first in the country in the Great

Streets category of the inaugural contest.Hamilton’s Ottawa Street and Saskatoon’s Broadway Avenue

finished second and third, respectively.The top locations were honoured not only for their popularity

or Internet voting drive, but because they also met certain criteriaand high standards of planning.

“Nanaimo’s historic Commercial Street ... is rich in heritage and

has struggled to stay alive in the face of rapid suburban develop-ment,” said Linda Allen, a panel judge and president of CitySpaces Consulting. “The city and the downtown business community, working together, have catalyzed growth, revitalized heritage buildings and welcomed year-round cultural activity.”

Required criteria for each street nominated included memorable

or unique character, promotion of social and economic activities,employing of visually interesting architecture, accessibility by dif-ferent modes of transportation, and reflection of culture, history and landscape.

Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan said the honour can be attributedto years of revitalization and co-operation between the city andbusiness owners downtown to breathe life back into CommercialStreet after the north end was developed.

“To come in first is a huge achievement,” said Ruttan. “I think it speaks well not only for Nanaimo, and specifically downtown Nanaimo, but it also addresses the fact that the improvements the City of Nanaimo has made over the years, since 1983, is being rec-ognized. As we revitalize downtown to make it livable and more attractive for people to come back, both business and shoppers, thisspeaks to the fact we’re obviously going in the right direction.”

City claimscanada’s topstreet title

The waiter’s race, above left, was part of the Marine Festival activities on Commercial Street, while the Downtown Show ’n Shine brought big crowds. The downtown main street was named best in Canada.

MARK CORBETT / DNBIA

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BY JENN McGARRIGLE

The timeline for comple-tion of renovations toNanaimo’s historic E&Ntrain station was pushed back again, but theproject is still chugging along.

Last fall, project stakeholders thought

the station, which was badly damaged ina 2007 fire, would open for business in the spring, but mortgage negotiations for the second phase of renovations to theinterior of the building took longer thanexpected, said Darren Moss, a director of Tectonica Management Inc. and the project’sconstruction manager.

Then in the spring, lease negotiations didnot run to schedule either, he added.

The major tenant will be an Irish restaurant,while VIA Rail will occupy a small portion of the building for passenger services.

“Everyone’s still very much on side and it’s still moving in the same direction, so that’sthe important part,” said Moss, adding heexpects the building will be open for business late next spring.

Work on the exterior – Phase 1 – began in May 2010.

The work included lifting the buildingabout 1.8 metres, blasting and excavatingunderneath, putting in a partial basement, structural reframing, brick repair andinstallation of window frames.

Moss said he expects Phase 2 of therenovations – all the mechanical and electrical work and finishing the interior to the drywall stage – will start shortly.

Passenger service on the E&N Rail line wassuspended last spring and the Island CorridorFoundation, the track’s owner, continues toawait federal funding for track upgrades.

But even if funding is not forthcoming andthe service is not reinstated, Moss expectsminimal impact to the train station project.

“[The restaurant’s] business plan is based on Nanaimo patrons using the restaurant,” he said, adding that a new tenant could be foundfor the small portion of the building that is slated to be for VIA Rail passengers.

The entire project is expected to cost about$2.4 million.

For the first phase, VIA Rail’s insurancekicked in $869,000, the Young Professionals of Nanaimo raised $410,000 through a series of fundraising campaigns and the DowntownNanaimo Partnership Society contributed$40,000.

The second phase will be funded by amortgage with CIBC.

Trevor Ivens, co-owner of the Fox andHounds on Milton Street, said the two parties are in the final stages of negotiating the leaseagreement.

“We’re 99.9 per cent there,” he said.

Station renovationchugging forward

Phase 2 of the restoration of Nanaimo’s train station includes rebuilding the interior and ultimately reopening with a restaurant as the anchor tenant.

CHRIS BUSH THE NEWS BULLETIN

Restoration of historic train station delayed, but still on track to reopen


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BY MELISSA FRYER

Downtown Nanaimo is anever-endingsource of entertain-ment.

Nightclubs,restaurantsand pubs

offer a variety of jam sessions, openmike nights and performances by localand visiting artists every night of theweek.

Places like Diners Rendezvous, the Queen’s, Acme Food Co. and morepost their entertainment schedule on social media tools like Facebook andTwitter. Or check the News Bulletin’s twice-weekly What’s On entertainment calendar for the latest events in theHarbour City.

Here’s a sampling of what visitors willregularly find on a trip to the down-town:

Jam nights – On Monday head tothe Queen’s for the open stage, hostedby Kings Without; on Tuesday, the Ren-dezvous opens the lounge to jammersof all kinds; and for something a littlelouder and edgier, check out the Cam-bie on Thursdays after 8 p.m.

All that jazz – Nanaimo’s mostfamous export, Diana Krall, built herjazz foundation in Nanaimo. AcmeFood Co. continues that tradition with Friday and Saturday night concerts with local jazz performers.

Spoken word – Nanaimo also hasa small but enthusiastic group of writ-ers and spoken word performers. They meet the last Monday of each month –except during the summer – at the Ren-dezvous for poetry and prose readings, followed by an open mike competition.

Where it’s art – Visual artwork from Nanaimo artists hangs in venuesall over the downtown core – it’s calledthe Arts District, after all. Check outthe collections in Gallery 223; NanaimoArt Gallery; and Hill’s Native Art. Thereare also numerous public art pieces dis-played around downtown.

Buskers – No money? No problem!Take a walk along Commercial Street or the Harbourfront walkway and you’ll find an array of street entertainment in a variety of styles.

Theatre – Downtown boasts twotheatres offering very different produc-tions. The Port Theatre, built in 1998,offers a full range of entertainment in an 800-seat venue with state of the art sound equipment. Nanaimo CentreStage on Victoria Road has a more com-munity feel, hosting smaller, emerging theatre, dance and music.

The Downtown Business Improve-ment Association offers information onbusiness and events. Please visit www.dnbia.ca.

Never-endingentertainment


Buskers perform regularly at a number of spots throughout the downtown.

THE NEWS BULLETIN

Public art is abundant across Nanaimo, and particularly in downtown.

MARK CORBETT DNBIA

Downtown offersplenty of choices to keep people amused

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The Port Place Mallrebuild is changing one of Nanaimo’s oldest shopping cen-tres into a village-like retail destination inthe heart of the city.

The first phase of the redevelopment

was mostly completed last spring, with workers still finishing the exterior.

The work added a stone facade to give it a village feel, said Mike Lowe, managing

director of First Capital Realty, the owner.Current tenants have endured months of

renovations, but moved moved into new locations in April.

The mall is being transformed into an open-area shopping centre with most of the existing building demolished.

The former food court location is becoming a pedestrian corridor and road-way named High Street, connecting toFront Street and Terminal Avenue.

The Centennial Fountain, built by theNanaimo Italian community in honour of British Columbia’s 100th anniversary of confederation, will remain the centralfocus of the mall’s front entrance.

An eight-storey commercial residen-tial building is also still in the plans. A 26-storey residential tower located in thenorth-east section is still a possibility, butis dependent on market demand.

Port Place Mallrevitalization taking shape

Demolition, reconstruction and road-building continues apace at Port Place Mall.


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BY TOBY GORMAN

The VancouverIsland Military Museum hasnew marching orders – to occu-py the vacant CentennialBuilding at Piper Park.

The military museum’s lease atNanaimo North Town Centre is setto expire at the end of this year, and with the possibility of demolitionhanging over the Centennial Building, the city’s heritage planner Chris Shol-berg introduced the idea of the warveterans moving their displays into the old Nanaimo Museum site, whichhas been unused since 2007 when theNanaimo Museum began moving to its new location at the Port of NanaimoCentre.

“It seemed like a natural,” said Shol-berg. “A great opportunity.”

In June, city staff helped council,Nanaimo Museum, which still main-tains some storage space on one levelof the two-storey building, and the military museum draft a lease agree-ment that will see 70 per cent of theannual $30,000 operating budgetcovered by the war veterans and 30 per cent covered by Nanaimo Museum.

The city, which in 2009 considered

razing the building due to mainte-nance costs, will contribute a new roof,electrical and HVAC upgrades.

“We’re looking forward to it becauseit gives us an opportunity to get downto the core of Nanaimo,” said BrianMcFadden, spokesman for the military museum. “It’s a very valuable building. It’s in an ideal location and what better way to replace the building than withanother museum?”

Roger Bird, president of the military museum, said the accessibility to the new site will be excellent and its loca-tion close to the waterfront and other tourist attractions will encourage morevisitors.

“We’ll be right next to the NanaimoMuseum so everything will be within walking distance – the waterfront, two museums, the conference centre andpossibly the new hotel down the line.Add in the cruise ship terminal and it’sthe perfect location,” he said.

Earlier this year, the CentennialBuilding was added to the city’s heri-tage registry along with Piper Park andthe grounds, including the train andminer’s cottage. Sholberg said while the building is recognized as a heritage structure, having it on the registry doesnot protect it.

“You definitely want a heritagebuilding to be used to save it frombeing taken down, so this works outwell,” he said.

The octagon-shaped CentennialBuilding was built in 1967 as part of the country’s centennial celebrations and was paid for with federal funds.

Jacqueline Barley, whose father LesBarley was the architect of the build-ing, worked hard to save the building

from demolition and advocated to have it installed on the heritage reg-istry. Les Barley celebrated his 100th birthday on Sept. 19.

Barley said she is relieved the site will get a second chance.

“It’s wonderful news,” she said. “The building is supposed to be a museum, that’s what it was designed to be.”

The lease agreement is for 10 years, which means the move will require theapproval of Nanaimo voters throughan alternative approval process set forSeptember.

The military museum expects to

use the two upper floors, while the Nanaimo Museum Society will con-tinue to use a portion of the first floor for storage.

“It’s a very good fit and a win-win for all involved,” said Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan. “When a building isabandoned and not in use, it deterio-rates quickly ... but this will be a rev-enue producer for the city because thenew tenants are paying and I think it will work out nicely for all involved.”

The Vancouver Island Military Museum is expected to move into its new location early in 2012.

Military displaysfind new home atfiformer museum


John Pierce, Vancou-ver Island Military Museum volunteer, makes his rounds through the museum’s medals room where a Russian 73 mm recoil-less anti-tank gun is kept on display. The museum expects to move into its new home at the Centen-nial Building in Piper Park early next year.


◆ CENTENNIAL BUILD-ING was built in 1967 and housed theNanaimo Museum until 2007 when the muse-um began moving to its new home in the Portof Nanaimo Centre.

◆ THE BUILDING wasmostly unused, other than storage, since themuseum moved.

◆ CITY COUNCIL consid-ered demolishing the building in 2009 due to maintenance costs.

◆ VANCOUVER ISLANDMILITARY MUSEUMhas been looking for a new home for a number of years, withits lease at NanaimoNorth Town Centre set to expire later this year.

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New corporationpushes city economy


The City of Nanaimo offi-cially entered into a part-nership agreement earlier this year with the newly developed Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation, which will allow the city to help theorganization carry out its

mandate under the Community Charter.The agreement stipulates the city will

provide $1.37 million in return for economic development and tourism services that will benefit Nanaimo.

The agreement, which has a term of 20 years, will allow the city to assist the corporationthrough grants and loans, as well as property transfers. The city will also, for now, be the soleshareholder in the corporation, but that could change if nearby municipalities and regionaldistricts express interest.

Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan created thecorporation after determining in early 2010 that the former economic development officeand other city-run economic and tourism offices were not transparent enough and wereunderperforming, despite enjoying a $1.5-million budget.

The move also means Tourism Nanaimo willno longer receive city funding.

“There is excitement around this and that’s the reason it was set up,” said Ruttan.

“Around a year and a half ago I was starting to get some feedback from the business community wondering why the economicdevelopment office was run by the city and why there wasn’t more input from business owners or more information provided. Ifelt there needed to be a great deal moreinformation out there for both council and local business.”

While the corporation is designed to operateas a separate entity, a 14-member progressboard, which includes council representatives, was established to monitor the fledglingorganization’s operations. The corporation willalso operate under the rules and regulations of the Business Corporations Act.

Reorganized department distanced from city hall A

fter an extensive five-month search, the Nanaimo EconomicDevelopment Corporation has found its inauguralCEO.

The corpora-tion announced

that Susan Cudahy, currently a senior manager at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, will help establish the fledg-ling corporation and complete theprocess of creating the 17-member board of directors.

Pinton Forrest and Madden, anexecutive search firm, helped exist-ing board members find the bestcandidate.

“The NEDC board had to makesome tough decisions,” board co-chairman A.J. Hustins said. “We hadexemplary candidates wanting to come to Nanaimo to undertake thischallenge. However, Susan really impressed all of us and is going tobe a great addition to Nanaimo and thecorporation.”

Prior to her work at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Cudahy was presi-dent and CEO of the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation,

as well as general manager of the WaterlooRegional Marketing Corporation.

Her private sector experience includes senior management positions within theautomotive alternative fuels market andthe natural gas utility sector. She was also president of OZ Management Consulting, focusing on economic development, sus-tainability, venture capital investment andtourism marketing.

She begins her new role on Oct. 17.Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan, who

spearheaded developmentof the corporation, said one of Cudahy’s first tasks willinclude branding the new venture.

“The success of this cor-poration is going to start with brand identification,” said Ruttan. “She needs tobe prepared to set out goalsand objectives of NEDC, sitdown with all of the players involved, get to know themand look beyond traditional

borders to pursue opportunities.”The corporation was designed to incorpo-

rate Nanaimo’s economic development andtourism offices into one entity. It will begin operation with a $1.37-million budget and has a term of 20 years.

CUDAHY

Economic CEO announced

BY TOBY GORMAN

Nanaimo’s $24-million cruise ship terminal is a beacon for visi-tors from around the world, introducing them to the HarbourCity.

The terminalopened May 7 to rave

reviews from passengers aboard the NorwegianPearl and has since had visits from the Celeb-rity Century in May and most recently the

Celebrity Millennium Sept. 10. The Norwegian Star pays a visit Sept. 25.

The 106-metre floating dock is capable of berthing 1,050-foot vessels and the 13,774-square-foot Welcome Centre holds space for the Canadian Border Service Agency’s offices and customs clearance. The Nanaimo Port Authority is relocating its administrative officesinto the building this fall.

Corry Hostetter, general manager of Down-town Nanaimo Business Improvement Associa-tion, said the feedback on Nanaimo from visi-tors disembarking the ships has been amazing.

“We’ve heard everything from this is their favourite stop so far, to this was their favouritestop on their tour,” she said. “The hospitality we provide with our volunteers and the cruise ship ambassadors is something that’s not donein other communities.”

Calvin Wallin, owner of Acme Food Co.,

said more often than not, a cruise ship’s arrivalmeans a full restaurant.

“And it’s not only us. Every time a cruise shipis in, the downtown is full,” he said. “Peopleseem to enjoy the Nanaimo experience … they explore the city.”

Wallin said providing good service when thetourists arrive is key.

“When a ship is in port we bring in an extra server, another host and at least one more per-son in the kitchen,” he said. “We’re staffed and ready to go.”

Cruise terminal bringing dividends


New infrastructure helps bring more passengers into experience the city

The 13,774-square-foot Welcome Centre holds space for the Canadian Border Service Agency’s offices and customs clearance. The Nanaimo Port Authority is relocating its administra-tive offices into the building this fall.

. THE NEWS BULLETIN

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Kevin Perry, owner of Perkins Coffee Com-pany, said business ranges from steady to very busy when the ships arrive.

“Depending when the ship docks and if thepassengers haven’t eaten, they’re seeking a meal and that’s good,” he said.

Perry hopes 2012 brings a steady flow of ships to town, believing it would change the dynamics of the city.

“I’ve been in Victoria when they’ve had two ships in and the place has been crazy,” he said.

Bernie Dumas, CEO of the Nanaimo Port Authority, said the cruise ship terminal is expected to start turning a profit after five years, a timeline that includes the constructionphase.

The port needs about 25-30 large vessel visitsa year to make that target. So far, five vessels,including the condominium ship, The World,are confirmed to visit Nanaimo in 2012.

Cruise outlooks are starting to improve witha number of companies returning to the Alas-kan route after pulling out during the reces-sion, said Dumas.

“We are in a good position to scoop that up,” he said. “It’s very important for the community.It has a lot of economic potential for the com-munity. We’re optimistic we’re going to seesome better numbers for 2012.”

Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan spent eightyears on the Nanaimo Port Authority’s board –

and has some knowledge of the effort that went into developing the terminal and the value behind it.

“There’s no question in my mind this wasdesigned as a long-term project. I think theport understood the return would be quitesome time in coming,” he said. “I also think it was their intent to build this more for the community than for themselves. There isn’t agreat deal of money in tieing up a vessel. It’s thespending that takes place ashore that is going to

be the biggest benefit to the community.”One of the major concerns has been a town

full of closed shops when a ship arrives on aSunday, but Hostetter said the business ownersare buying into keeping their doors open.

“We try to let our members know when the ships are coming in so they can schedule theirshopping hours accordingly,” she said. “Thenext visit is a Sunday and the owners are start-ing to see the benefit of staying open. If we canget the numbers in the downtown, it’s worth staying open.”

Ruttan said the math regarding Sunday open-ings isn’t a challenge.

“If you get between 2,000 and 2,400 peoplecoming ashore for six to eight hours with money in their pockets, they’re going to spend it somewhere,” he said. “It behooves everyone to try and make those people’s experiences as good as it can be. People remember good ser-vice and they remember poor service. We need

The new terminal opened May 7 to rave reviews from passengers aboard the Norwegian Pearl.

THE NEWS BULLETIN


“Every time a cruiseship is in town,the downtown is full.

101 Gordon Street, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada V9R 5J9

Check out our new website!www.viconference.com

Vancouver Island Conference Centre

Serving the communityof Nanaimo....

generating economic impact for the region.

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Recent clandestine operations

RRhave produced some new arriv-

RRals to the Nanaimo Bar scene. RRThe Grand Hotel has cre-ated a Nanaimo Bar cocktail,RRyou can line up Nanaimo Bar RRshooters at Millers Pub and RRModern Café has added a RRNanaimo Bar latté alongside its RR

Nanaimo Bar martini.They’re all new additions to a special attraction featur-

ing the city’s signature snack – the Nanaimo Bar Trail.“We’ve had a couple of restaurants add on to their

traditional or vegan versions that they’re already serving, so I think we’re up to 19 businesses now,” said Chelsea Barr, Destination Nanaimo spokeswoman, who com-piled the list of bar makers.

No public event where treats are served in this town is complete without a tray of the delectable dessert and connoisseurs know just a conservative nip will unleash a cacophony of chocolate and coconut, followed by a voluminous rush of vanilla.

Because one can never have too much of a good thing, this city’s chefs, restauranteurs and bartenders have tin-kered with this dessert’s DNA, splicing a gene here and cross-breeding in a trait there to spawn a host of muta-tions that claim culinary lineage to the original, but takeradically different forms to slip past the defences of fresh legions of hosts.

The Nanaimo Bar Trail lures people with a list of cof-

fee houses, bakeries and restaurants that mint the barfrom recipes clinging to convention and other establish-ments that trampled tradition like Picasso and proudly boast of the Frankenstein-ian offspring of their work.

“It’s just another activity for folks to do downtown, other ideas for people who have visitors coming in, for people coming in on the cruise ships,” Barr said. “It’sjust sort of a funky thing to promote the Nanaimo Bar.”

Pamphlets came out in June and are available at Tourism Nanaimo kiosks, parks, recreation and culture facilities and at businesses listed in the pamphlet.

Barr said a downloadable version of the pamphlet ison the City of Nanaimo website.

Travel publications from far flung regions are picking up on the Nanaimo Bar Trail too.

“We have a woman coming from the U.K. to do awhole big thing about it, so that’s really exciting,” Barr said.

Another way to get started on a Nanaimo Bar pilgrim-age is to make a quick visit to Tourism Nanaimo’s web-site at www.tourismnanaimo.com/content/nanaimo-bar,where people can chart their path to the Nanaimo BarCupcake at A Wee Cupcakery and the Nanaimo Bar IceCream Sundae at Jakecob’s Ice Cream Parlour.

The health-conscious can go wheat-free and organicat one of Nanaimo’s farmer’s markets, or dive head-long into a feeding frenzy with deep-fried version of the bar from Pirate Chips. Nanaimo Museum has evencompiled a history of the Nanaimo Bar to go with its mouth-watering, but inedible, display.

Trail tracks city’s signature tasty treat BY CHRIS BUSH


34 Victoria Cres. Downtown Nanaimo 250-754-6751 www.thequeens.ca

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For a business that’s been around for more than 100 years, the Modern Café is truly liv-ing up to its name these days.

When new owner, Scott Cooper, took overthe downtown Nanaimo restaurant a year ago, he strived to take the establishment intothe digital age. Now using iPad technol-ogy and the most up-to-date point of sales

system, the Modern is able to provide better customer service and create new communi-cation points with customers.

Adding to the iPad launch, the Modernhas also completely upgraded the website www.themoderncafe.ca to include onlinereservation system that instantly reserves a table on the iPad.

The City of Nanaimo has taken a step inreducing its carbon footprint by adding two electric vehicles to its fleet.

The Nissan Leaf zero emission electric carsare expected to provide the city with fuel and maintenance cost savings estimated between$20,000 and $25,000 per car compared to a similar gas-powered compact car over the pro-jected 10-year lifespan of the vehicles.

Green house gas emission reductions per year are expected to be 80 per cent comparedto traditional vehicles.

While electric vehicles are considerably more expensive for the city to purchase, the reduced operating costs offset the increased purchaseprice.

“We look at all fleet vehicles as they come up for replacement and look for opportunitiesto downsize or go to alternative fuels includ-ing electric,” said Bruce Labelle, fleet manager.“The electric option doesn’t meet all the fleetneeds today but as technology improves andmore options are available, we hope electrics will be a substantial part of the city fleet.”

A third vehicle is on order, but due to prod-uct demand its arrival has been delayed.

Public charging stations will be installed at a number of facilities over the coming months asthe city prepares to see more electric vehicles on local roads.

Three charging stations have been installedfor the fleet cars; two at the Franklyn Streetcompound and one at public works on Labieux Road.

For more information about city fleetvehicles, please e-mail Labelle at [email protected] or call 250-756-5312.

Carshare co-op shows quick growth pattern

Just 12 weeks after the launch of its service, Nanaimo CarShare Cooperative welcomed its20th member.

Protection Island resident Denise Bonin recently joined the non-profit association,

whose members share the use of a 2009 NissanVersa hatchback.

The milestone is an important one for the co-operative, says Kurt Fischer, who along withBarbara Johnston and Louise Hamilton makeup the group’s board of directors.

“Carsharing can be found in most large cit-ies and many mid-sized cities in Canada and the U.S., and Nanaimo is showing that it workswell here too,” says Fischer, who played a key role in the planning, launch, and management of the 1,000-member hOurCar carsharing organization in Minnesota.

Nanaimo CarShare keeps its Versa at thesouth end of Port Place Mall downtown, a short walk from a well-served bus stop on Front Street and the Protection and Gabriola Island ferry terminals.

It`s popular with island residents who can avoid hefty vehicle ferry fares, ferry line-ups,and parking costs, when they come to the city.

And even then, says Fischer, there is stillplenty of prime time use available.

“Many of our members tend to think of using a car for a simple, short trip as a lastresort, whereas typical car owners may think of a car as the first resort for every trip.”

Consequently, Nanaimo CarShare membersdon’t use the Versa anywhere near as much as private car owners use their vehicles.

“Carsharing is just one piece of the mobil-ity puzzle, with the other important pieces comprising transit, cycling, walking, taxis, andconventional rental car. Our members tend tochoose the mobility option that best meets therequirements of a particular trip – which often is a mode other than a car.”

That means the cooperative can accom-modate many more members, he says. And as demand grows, the plan calls for a second carto be added to the duty roster.

Members make easy, self-service bookings online for trips as short as an hour or as longas a day. They pay usage fees based on thehours reserved and kilometres travelled in eachtrip. The co-op pays for insurance, mainte-nance, repairs, BCAA roadside assistance, and gas.

Each member gets a monthly invoice item-izing each trip. If members don’t drive duringa month, their cost is $0.

For more information, please go to nanaimo-carshare.ca, phone 250-741-4141, or [email protected]

City moves into electric vehicle era

Cafè really living up to its name

grow hereto learn more call Amrit Manhas

Economic Development Office250 755 4465

One of the most desirable, livable, small cities in North America“

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