Former Presidents Shocked That Nanaimo Chamber Building Put Up For Sale
NANAIMO – Mary Brown’s Chicken restaurant is opening soon in South Gate Mall in Chase River. There are six Mary Brown’s locations in the lower mainland, as well as franchises in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland/Labrador and the Northwest Territories.
A tip of the hat to Robert Collins upon celebrating 10 years with Pride Painting.
Eye Mean Graphics is moving to share space with The Sign Zone at 3589 Shenton Road on March 1. Bill Smith is excited about the print company’s move to share premises with Mike Carson’s sign and display company.
A fond farewell to Nancy Lamont, who retired at the end of 2020 after working for McDonald’s Restaurants in Nanaimo for the past 48 years. She was most recently the General Manager of the Nicol Street location, and started at Terminal Park in 1972 at age 15.
News of the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce decision to put its sparkling building on Bowen Road up for sale was met with great sadness, particularly from Past Presidents and Board members who worked feverishly to build the structure starting in 2003, and watched as the mortgage was paid off in under 10 years.
Past Presidents including myself, Russ Burke, Charlie Parker and Donna Hais involved in the building’s creation did so with the intention that the Chamber wouldn’t have to “rely on balloon prizes to pay the bills”, and paying off the structure early was viewed as a great accomplishment, which allowed them to achieve that goal.
The 3,000 square foot Chamber building was built there partly to assuage concerns about the business organization becoming too focused on downtown as that was part of the reason discussions were being held about forming a North Nanaimo Chamber in order to make sure that area of the city’s interests were looked after.
Congratulations to Colton McNeil upon the announcement of becoming a partner in Pacific Certified Professional Accountants.
Stuart Olson Construction has been chosen to build the new $157 million Brannen Lake Correctional Centre. It will be built next to the existing property.
Nicole Sendey, who now works for the Port Alberni-based Coulson Group of Companies, has earned her accredited status with the Canadian Public Relations Society. Nicole is well-known in Nanaimo and was the founder of the very successful and generous “Secret Santa” program that connected generous residents with proven needy families in the city during Christmas. Nicole was a long-time member of the Charlie Parker Team at RE/MAX of Nanaimo.
Raymond de Beeld Architect is designing a 98 unit apartment building at 4851 Cedar Ridge Place next to Rutherford Road that has been given approval from the City of Nanaimo. The building will include 48 two-bedroom and 50 one-bedroom units.
Adam Hawryluk, formerly with Dominion Lending, is now a Lead Broker at Flawless Financing on Princess Royal Avenue.
Tracy (Fleck) Samra
Congratulations to former City of Nanaimo Chief Administration Officer Tracy (Fleck) Samra, who has been appointed Senior Executive Director of the Indigenous Partnership Office West with the federal Department of Natural Resources. Tracy will be overseeing Indigenous relations for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
Progress continues on the new downtown hotel on Gordon Street. PEG Developments recently passed a critical deadline to satisfy demands from the City of Nanaimo property, which will be home to a 9-storey, 172 room, $34 million hotel, next to the Vancouver Island Conference Centre.
The TELUS building on Fitzwilliam Street could be home to as many as 500 people should the planned TELUS Living Nanaimo residential development be approved by the City.
The $70 million project would be comprised of 197 units in the seven-storey building on the three-acre site. It would include a ground-floor commercial unit, underground parking, and an entrance plaza on Wallace at Wentworth Streets.
Doug White III © 2020 HA Photography
Congratulations to Doug White III, former Snuneymuxw First Nation Chief and current Board Member of the Port of Nanaimo, upon being appointed as Queen’s Counsel for his legal work. Doug is Chairman of the BC First Nations Justice Council.
Nanaimo Honda will be growing, as the vehicle dealership has been issued a development permit to expand its 9.700 square foot building to 24,500 square feet.
Paige Karczynski is the new Executive Director of the Nanaimo Community Hospice Society.
Orange Theory Fitness Nanaimo is now open at 2-5765 Turner Road. Island West Coast Developments did the project.
Two five-storey buildings have been approved by City council for the northeast corner of Milton and Haliburton Streets. They will include 79 new residential units, in two-bedroom, one bedroom and studio suites.
Mark MacDonald is President of Communication Ink Media & Public Relations Ltd. and can be reached at mark@communicationink.ca