Burnaby Updates

[VBC]

Sign is up in front of walkup between Metroplace and Silver:

[BobLoblawsLawBlog]

Really hoping this building be called "Bronze Towers" or "Copper House".

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Sheba

...

But what about this Edmonds arena? The only larger lots anywhere near the Skytrain are newer industrial (they've been moving that down to Big Bend), dedicated parkland (that they're not going to rip out) and the Southgate (old Safeway distribution centre) site.

New Burnaby arena eyed near New West border

By Eric MacKenzie
Sunday, May 8, 2016 4:10:56 PDT PM

The City of Burnaby is poised to address an ice rink shortage in the community’s south end by exploring whether a two-pad arena could work on a vacant spot of land near the border with New Westminster.

Burnaby council will vote Monday on a recommendation to spend up to $250,000 to hire a consultant that would prepare a feasibility study on a future arena at Tenth Avenue and 18th Street, near Byrne Creek Secondary School and the proposed Southgate neighbourhood.

...

The 10th Avenue at 18th Street site was chosen as the preferred location for a new arena last summer, viewed as a better option than potential two-rink sites at Bonsor Park and MacPherson Park West.

The city currently operates three ice rinks, all of which are located north of Highway 1.

http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2016/05/08/new-burnaby-arena-eyed-near-new-west-border

[Sheba]

Bonsor is a good location but there's already plenty there - I'm not sure if they could fit an ice rink in. If the MacPherson Park is the one I saw it's pretty small although it is next to a school, which would help. The 10th Avenue at 18th Street site makes more sense, although I'm sure there'll be people saying 'OMG it's sooo far from skytrain'.

[officedweller]

Massive smelly hockey bags on SkyTrain - not a good mix anyways.

[BobLoblawsLawBlog]

Can't people just use Bill Copeland Centre or 8 Rinks?

[mgbcca]

Looks like they been cleaning up the front of the Concord Brentwood site the last few days.

[Jebby]

I really hope they do something with that median....

[urbancanadian]

Originally Posted by Jebby

I really hope they do something with that median....

Thankfully they will - it's one of the city's requirements for the overall redevelopment.

[officedweller]

Upgrades to Burnaby Hospital in the works:

$622.5-million expansion and upgrade of Burnaby Hospital planned
By Kenneth Chan
12:29 PM PDT, Mon May 16, 2016

The provincial government says it is working with the Fraser Health Authority to develop a concept plan to renovate and expand Burnaby Hospital’s aging facilities.

A high-level master plan made over the last few years proposes a multi-phased project that could potentially cost up to $622.5 million to construct. It would increase the hospital’s bed space capacity from 295 beds to 500 beds to accommodate the demand from a growing population while also replacing some of the aging facilities, which were all built during the 1950s and 1970s.

The West Wing, the oldest part of the hospital site, will be demolished and rebuilt in phases so that portions of the building can remain operational during the construction phase. When all phases are built out, over 900,000 square feet of new and replacement hospital floor area will be created.
...

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/05/burnaby-hospital-expansion-upgrades/


Image: IBI Group / Fraser Health Authority
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/05/burnaby-hospital-expansion-upgrades/


Image: IBI Group / Fraser Health Authority
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/05/burnaby-hospital-expansion-upgrades/


Image: IBI Group / Fraser Health Authority
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/05/burnaby-hospital-expansion-upgrades/


Image: IBI Group / Fraser Health Authority
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/05/burnaby-hospital-expansion-upgrades/

[cornholio]

Interesting. I fully expected them to build a new hospital at the Willingdon lands site (owned by the natives in partnership with the Aquilini group) or leased site at BCIT. In either case you could certainly build a new hospital sooner, and for roughly the same price. Coastal health gets a new hospital and less disruptions, Burnaby moves the hospital out of a residential zone, and Willigndon lands or BCIT gets a major anchor tenant that will bring more tenants and prestige and the province looks good and possibly saves money long term, and metro Vancouver gets a hospital on a major transit route. Everyone wins. Having said that its probably easier to negotiate and plan with a new third party site when you have a base plan for your current site.

Having said that it would not surprise me if that's still what ends up happening. It makes too much sense.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by cornholio

Interesting. I fully expected them to build a new hospital at the Willingdon lands site (owned by the natives in partnership with the Aquilini group) or leased site at BCIT. In either case you could certainly build a new hospital sooner, and for roughly the same price. Coastal health gets a new hospital and less disruptions, Burnaby moves the hospital out of a residential zone, and Willigndon lands or BCIT gets a major anchor tenant that will bring more tenants and prestige and the province looks good and possibly saves money long term, and metro Vancouver gets a hospital on a major transit route. Everyone wins. Having said that its probably easier to negotiate and plan with a new third party site when you have a base plan for your current site.

Having said that it would not surprise me if that's still what ends up happening. It makes too much sense.

That makes no sense.

Why buy/lease new space when the Burnaby General property is huge?

For most of BC's history, when they plan a new Hospital they buy enough land around the hospital so they can grow for decades. The typical strategy is there is at least enough land that at least 2 expansions can be built, and when then the oldest part is renovated or demolished, so it can continue in a cycle of upgrades almost forever.

Almost all the hospitals built since that time are like that. There haven't been a lot of new Hospitals in BC because they are built on huge properties. Kelowna General has been on its site since 1908, going from the original 19 beds to 711 beds. Royal Inland has been on the same site since 1910. The new Abbostford regional Hospital is the first new hospital in 30 years because this strategy has worked so well. And the building still takes up only about 1/4 of the total site. Victoria General (another newish hospital) can be easily quadrupled on its current site. Royal Jubilee has grown to 500 beds on the same site since 1890.

The plans for Burnaby make sense. The first phase is adding capacity by building around the existing buildings that can be used while upgrades to the previous building is done, then the oldest building will be replaced by a new one. The only reason it is as expensive as it is is because they are cramming 2 different phases into one program (phase 1 of this should have been done 15 years ago). Once the hospital has been modernized, there is still enough space that it can more than double in size to meet the growing demands of East Vancouver and Western Burnaby.

[WarrenC12]

So we have additional Phases of RCH, New St. Paul's, and now BGH expansion in the works for the lower mainland (all unfunded to date). It should be interested to see which are announced as we get closer to the election.

I'd definitely argue St. Paul's and Royal Columbian are higher on the priority list, but we shall see...

[GilmoreStation]

Good news for homeowners in Gilmore/Brentwood area. The hospital expansion will only increase the demand to own/rent around the area from additional hospital employees.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

So we have additional Phases of RCH, New St. Paul's, and now BGH expansion in the works for the lower mainland (all unfunded to date). It should be interested to see which are announced as we get closer to the election.

I'd definitely argue St. Paul's and Royal Columbian are higher on the priority list, but we shall see...

I would put St Paul's down on the list of priorities. I would even put expanding Peace Arch or Langley ahead of it. The current and new St Paul sites are only a 10 minute drive from VGH (The second largest hospital in Canada). Burnaby General is a 20 minute drive from VGH, and RCH is another 20 minute drive from Burnaby, and Surrey Memorial is another 20 minute drive from RCH, and Peace Arch is another 20 minutes from Surrey.

Royal Columbian is one of the busiest and most important hospitals in BC and should be the priority, but Burnaby serves a large population area, and could serve an even larger area with upgrades, reducing pressure on VGH/SP.

On top of that, St Paul's is the odd duck out because it is run by Providence, a denominational entity which has its own independent board of directors and isn't a true regional health authority falling under the control of the PHSA.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

I would put St Paul's down on the list of priorities. I would even put expanding Peace Arch or Langley ahead of it. The current and new St Paul sites are only a 10 minute drive from VGH (The second largest hospital in Canada). Burnaby General is a 20 minute drive from VGH, and RCH is another 20 minute drive from Burnaby, and Surrey Memorial is another 20 minute drive from RCH, and Peace Arch is another 20 minutes from Surrey.

Royal Columbian is one of the busiest and most important hospitals in BC and should be the priority, but Burnaby serves a large population area, and could serve an even larger area with upgrades, reducing pressure on VGH/SP.

On top of that, St Paul's is the odd duck out because it is run by Providence, a denominational entity which has its own independent board of directors and isn't a true regional health authority falling under the control of the PHSA.

Peace Arch or Langley? It's clear where your bias lies.

St. Paul's serves the most dense part of the region, is in near-term risk of falling down, and despite that is the centre of excellence in the province for HIV/AIDS and cardiac surgery, among other areas. The redevelopment plan will make it a Level 1 Trauma center helping to take the burden off of VGH and RCH regionally.

PHSA runs provincial programs (what the P stands for) like BC Childrens, Womens, CDC, BC Cancer, BC Emergency (ambulance), etc. PHSA, Vancouver Coastal, and Providence are well integrated in the lower mainland. Fraser does their own thing but of course there are many tie ins with all regional groups.

St. Paul's is absolutely the priority for the MOH. The only reason BC Children's went first is because they have a very strong foundation that was able to pony up a big chunk of the redevelopment money.

[Sheba]

I'm kind of surprised that SMH isn't a Level 1 Trauma center now, what with the rebuild and Surrey Central being the downtown for South of Fraser / Fraser Valley.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Sheba

I'm kind of surprised that SMH isn't a Level 1 Trauma center now, what with the rebuild and Surrey Central being the downtown for South of Fraser / Fraser Valley.

Level 1 Trauma is about having certain facilities and staff available 24/7. It's super expensive. Plus you need a heli-pad, which Surrey got, maybe for future Level 1 support.

In fact, I'm not even 100% sure Level 1 Trauma will be part of the SPH rebuild. BC only has RCH, VGH and BC Children's today. VGH is moving towards a huge rebuild of 30 operating rooms, those are the biggest part of being a trauma center.

[GilmoreStation]

Originally Posted by mgbcca

Looks like they been cleaning up the front of the Concord Brentwood site the last few days.

Brentwood sure does have the potential to turn into the 'Yaletown' of Burnaby

[BobLoblawsLawBlog]

Originally Posted by GilmoreStation

Brentwood sure does have the potential to turn into the 'Yaletown' of Burnaby

I thought that's what's already happening at Station Square and Beresford.