Last summer, Malachy Tohill, Regional Director of Operations for BC Housing for the north came before council to discuss the state of the BC Housing development on Chamberlain Place.
“Boy, it’s been there for a long time,” he said. “Of the twenty units there, two are used for palliative care, one is occupied, and a lot of them are in really rough shape.”
At the time he said “Most of the units are not habitable. If things bounce back, we want to be ready for that, but we are going to bring in a consultant to take a look at them. A number of them will come down, but we don’t know that number yet.”
That number could be all, which has town council worried, especially since Chamberlain place is apparently slated for demolition at the end of the month.
This is, says Mayor Keith Bertrand, something that BC Housing has not mentioned to the town. “We have been waiting for an update from BC housing to let us know their plans to no avail,” he says. “I believe these are underutilized units, however the spaces are important. Hopefully we can collaborate with BC Housing and first understand their plans but also find opportunities as well.”
Council only found out about the plans after Doug Foerester mentioned it to Councillor Krakowka. Foerester has known about the demolition plans for the last few months. As one of the members of the Tumbler Ridge Palliative Care Society, the group has two units in Chamberlain Place.
“I’m devastated by it,” says Foerester. “We have cleaned out one of the units. There’s nothing left. We’ve gotten rid of all the furniture, and turned it back to BC Housing.”
But the other unit? Number 28? “That’s the one the District put $30,000 in to improve,” he says. “Between the District and BC Housing, that unit has been rebuild and turned into a wheelchair accessible unit. That one is occupied, but they say it will have to be evacuated by the end of the month.”
When Tohill came to town, he assured Council that only a few units would be coming down. “We want to keep some up and re-do them in the anticipation that there’s a bigger need for affordable housing for families,” he said. “The ones that aren’t worth putting the money into will come down. The two in palliative care have been there for a long time. The plan is to fix the good ones up so there is that affordability.”
The trouble, said Tohill, was there wasn’t very much demand for housing, and many of the units have sat empty for years. Indeed, only one unit was occupied at the time. “If we saw a heavy call for it, we would be responding to meet that need,” he said.
In addition to looking at the units themselves, the plan was to do a needs and demands assessment so BC Housing could understand the demand. “Do we need one bedrooms for low income individuals? Do we need family units,” he said. “We take a lot of direction from the community.”
Apparently, that assessment has been done, though it hasn’t been released to the community.
According to Foerester, he’s been told that it is costing upwards of $40,000 a month for BC Housing to maintain all the units. “That came through from the people in Prince George,” he says. “I’ve been back and arguing it with them, but I don’t know who is calling the shots there.”
He says the news is devastating for the society, which has put so much work into maintaining the units. “We’ve had very little use of those units in the last year, though we’ve had someone in number 28 for a few months.” Palliative care, he says, is like the fire department. “You don’t want to use it,” he says, “but you want it there in case you need it.”
Foerester says he’s heard that only four of the units (two of which are maintained by the society) were even livable.
They’ve been offered the use of a unit in Hartford Court—also operated by BC Housing—but he just doesn’t see that as being viable. One of the services offered by the Palliative Care Society is for families of terminally ill people to stay in town and care for their loved one, but the spaces at Hartford Court are all one bedroom units. “And the cost they are expecting us to pay over there is at least $400/month, plus utilities. In the past, we’ve just put people up in a hotel. I’d rather just do that if a family was coming in. They have all the facilities there, whereas Hartford Court just doesn’t have the facilities.”
He says he’d like to make an offer on the duplex that unit 28 is in. “One side has been rebuilt. It’s not dilapidated. For them to tear it down, and maybe rebuild it…? It would be easier to just leave the two units alone—28 and the one beside it—and we’ll convert that unit, too.”
However, he isn’t expecting the proposal will succeed. In the meantime, they are slowly pulling equipment out of the unit with the help of the Fire Department. “It’s not money we need right now. We need a place to go.”
Over at town hall, the District is trying to find out what is going on. At a recent meeting, says Bertrand, council passed a motion to not allow a demolition permit until proper engagement takes place. “We are concerned about the plan without knowing any details,” he says.
Chamberlain Place was built in 1985 and was originally owned and operated by the Tumbler Ridge Housing Co-operative. It was taken over by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation before being bought by BC Housing.
There are six one-bedroom units in two separate triplexes, six two-bedroom units and eight three-bedroom units in six separate duplexes.
BC Housing purchased Chamberlain Place in November, 2006 for $1 million, to be managed as part of BC Housing’s public housing stock.
At the time, it was praised as providing improved access to affordable housing for low-income and working families in Tumbler Ridge.
At the time, BC Housing upgraded the residences, including replacing the appliances, complete renovating two units with fire and water damage, and installing new furnaces and water tanks
BC Housing also maintains Hartford Court as affordable seniors housing.
Wh have received a statement from BC Housing saying “Negotiations about Chamberlain Place are still on going. A final decision has not been made.”
