Victoriaville, parkades on Thunder Bay council agenda
CBC
The wrecking ball is not set up yet, but Thunder Bay's Victoriaville Mall could be one step closer to demolition after a city council meeting slated for Monday night.
Council will vote on approving $1.2 million to be spent on so-called 'soft costs' before the actual demolition will take place. The costs include surveying, design, geotechnical and environmental work. The money is proposed to come from the city's land development fund.
"This is a long time overdue. Victoriaville Mall, for all intents and purposes, was built for a different future," said Coun. Shelby Ch'ng. "It's just not a modern facility whatsoever, and I'm happy to see that it's possibly coming down."
"The south core actually needs some tuning up, in terms of its capital infrastructure."
The city has lost money on the mall's operations for decades since its opening in 1979.
While the estimated cost of tearing down the facility, which covers a few city blocks along Victoria Avenue, will be at least $10 million, Ch'ng said the city will save in the long run.
"It's time that we reinvest some money there, because we're losing a lot of capital dollars, and we're looking at almost $800,000 a year that we're spending on Victoriaville Mall, and we're not seeing a lot of investment," she said.
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