Penticton

Since Dawn Madsen opened Cottage Fever, a  shabby chic furniture store on Front Street in Penticton just a little over a month ago, business has been brisk.

But now that her store sits next door to a burned building that until last weekend housed Slack Alice’s Show Pub, the Chinese Laundry restaurant and Bubblee’s Beer and Wine Store,  she worries what the future might bring.

“It’s a little unsettling, that’s the word,” she said, as she moved around the shop getting ready for customers. “It will be interesting to see what this does to foot traffic.”

While most Penticton residents were still asleep early Sunday morning a fierce fire destroyed much of the 107-year-old building on the historic Penticton street .

Prior to the devastating fire, Tony Chan, the owner of the building, had been trying to sell two of the businesses and the pub itself had been shut down recently due to a liquor violation and because of renovations.

The area was initially closed down after the blaze, but by Tuesday, the stores and restaurants that line the street were open.

Like Madsen, Katie Min, the manager of Ginza Sushi restaurant, worries that business could initially fall off.

“It will affect our business because we got a lot of customers from the people coming and going from the pub and the people who worked there,” she said.

But others feel people will continue to flock to Front Street.

Jeanette Beaven, who has owned Dragon’s Den with her family for 25 years, was already seeing a steady stream of customers at the store that sells art supplies, cards and gift items.

Her main concern was for the owner of the building and the people who worked there.

“I really haven’t thought about this in terms of economic impact,” she said. “It’s more in terms of the impact on the employees, they were part of the fabric of this community.”

She will also miss having Slack Alice’s as a neighbour.

“Anything we ever asked for in the neighbourhood they were willing to pitch in, even when they sometimes couldn’t put their name on it,” says Beaven. “We used to do a cardboard boat race on the lake for years and they were the biggest participant.”

Chan, who was devastated by the loss, said he doesn’t yet know if  he will rebuild at the site.

“It’s just absolutely terrible,” he says. “The fire is still under investigation and I have no idea of what’s next at this point.”

Business owners hope if something else is built at the location that it fits the historical theme of the street.

“I am hoping they will encourage the building of a retro style retail or something similar to what was there,” says Marjo Thompson, an employee at The Lloyd Gallery, who empathized with Chan and the employees at the businesses after losing her family business at a different spot in Penticton in 2007.

Nor does Beaven have a problem with it being a strip club again. In her eyes it was a gathering place for people from all walks of life, from blue to white collar.

Penticton City Councillor John Vassilaki, who was saddened by the loss of a historical building and the economic impact of losing 24 jobs in the community, said he hopes it’s an opportunity for a new beginning at the location.

“Right now I would rather see a decent hotel that looks like the rest of the street than a strip club,” he said.

The scene of the fire, which has been described as suspicious, will be examined in greater depth later today or Wednesday to determine a cause, according to Constable Mike Desmond with the Penticton RCMP.

Penticton is getting another judge.

The new judge will be one of nine appointed by the BC government which targeted regions around the province dealing with heavy caseload pressures.

Photo: Contributed - Google street view

Penticton will receive one of nine new judges recently appointed by the provincial government.

"Our government has been consistent in saying it would always consider appointing judges as one of the solutions to ease pressures on the justice system, but these newest appointees are only part of a  solution for a justice system in need of reform," says BC Attorney General Shirley Bond.

"In the coming days, we'll be looking very closely at larger reform of the system and specifically how we can find efficiencies and long-term solutions to the pressures our courts are facing, instead of just looking at more funding as the only answer."

Four of these new judges will be appointed to the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley regions, with another two being placed in Prince  George.

One new judge has been appointed to Nanaimo and Smithers as well.

The chief judge has assigned the new judges to these specific communities in response to the court's needs throughout the province, taking into account such matters as caseload demands, recent transfers within the court, retirements or judges choosing to move to the part-time program.

The total cost to government to support one Provincial Court judge is up to $1.4 million annually, including the judge's salary and other costs for court administration staff, sheriffs, prosecution services and judicial support. 

Former Great Valley Radio morning personality and Program Director, Rolly Gillis has passed away

His family was by his side when he passed Saturday afternoon.

He'd been in declining health.

Rolly signed on when the station did back in 1981.

He started his radio career in Cranbrook back in the 1950s and spent some time in broadcasting in Castlegar

He ran the station in Parksville for a time with a few other stops in between.

Rolly also played in a band in his youth and enjoyed singing at family events.

He loved to spend vacation time at his uncle's farm in Yak.

 

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Story and video by Trevor Rockliffe.

The smoke damaged from the fire that destroyed three Penticton businesses clouded the city's down town Sunday.

According to Captain Tom Smith, crews also battled an overflow water issue as they tried to divert water away from neighbouring business.

"We had to dam up a back alley because a dentist office to the north, they have a basement that got about four feet of water in it. So we got the city truck to try and pump it."

The front wall of Slacks finally came down  early Sunday evening.  Fire crews were concerned the the wall would fall onto the street and the flames would spread, but fortunately that didn't happen.

Colourfull Front street remains closed as does Forbes avenue. sidewalks are accessible to businesses but vehicles can't enter at this point.

Fire officials will sift through the damage on Monday to start the investigation into the cause of the blaze. 

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