To the editor,
Re: City buying Jean Burns site for ‘public realm’ improvements, June 2.
With all respect, I don’t think a transit exchange is the best use for the Jean Burns block, for two reasons.
First, this is a prime site, in the heart of downtown, and it should be developed in a way that contributes to the dynamism and appeal of the central business district with a mix of commercial, entertainment and residential uses (including some affordable housing).
Secondly, the Jean Burns block is not a good site for a transit exchange. The streets are very narrow, and the Commercial Street-Victoria Crescent-Albert Street-Wallace Street intersection is already challenging enough without the addition of frequent buses.
How much would have to be demolished to make room for them? Surely the city can come up with a more creative plan for that block than a bus loop.
James Duthie, Nanaimo
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To the editor,
Re: City buying Jean Burns site for ‘public realm’ improvements, June 2.
Do not want a bunch of parked and coming-and-going buses at the very main crossroads of our beloved downtown Nanaimo.
There may be a hole there, but the city and province need to lessen their hardcore rules and let an awesome building be built there, with stores and maybe a little café or two on the bottom (remember Acme or Filthy McNasty’s) and have residences above, which then would have more people call downtown home and also have more shoppers living in the city’s centre and shopping in stores.
What an awful proposal by the city to use a brilliant piece of property to propose a waste-of-space bus depot and a hang-out area.
C.L. Cavanagh, Nanaimo
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