The Editor:
The staff recommendation to relocate city hall to downtown Burnaby is just plain smart.
Plus, the redevelopment of the dated library within a new sustainable facility makes great sense.
And with the Metrotown SkyTrain station mere steps away, the city can then recruit staff from a much broader area, while lowering the cost of commuting for existing staff, where practical.
All this promotes the seriousness that the City of Burnaby must grow up to face the challenges of today and tomorrow. And placing Burnaby City Hall in this dense area, with high-quality transit nearby, reflects on what must be done to deal with climate change and local emission levels.
Yet, let us get over the somewhat divisive debate about whether public lands should only be used for public purpose. Rather, how about doubling the size of this tower for a range of other commercial, office and even residential uses that will generate much-needed revenue to help reduce the overall burden on taxpayers for this once-in-a-century investment.
The city has plans for a housing authority; this might be an opportunity to undertake a truly effective public-private partnership. The future benefits of this approach, for example, is the expanded office component could, when leases expire, be returned to public uses as civic demand and city needs expand over the decades to come.
This council has over and over demonstrated both vision and foresight; let’s continue to think and act in the long term, please.
Joe Sulmona
