Castlegar’s city manager says a private garage that the city bought five years ago will continue to be used as a storage facility for the civic works department for the time being.
Chris Barlow provided council with an update this month on 2201 Columbia Avenue, also known as the Basran building, which the city bought in May 2021. The sale wasn’t publicized until January 2022, at which time the city described the property as “a single parcel corner lot that could be used as a central storage space for civic works operations or redeveloped for mixed-use commercial and residential housing units.”
Barlow said hazardous abatement work on the building has been completed and employees have been allowed back inside. The building has also been painted. But the city has no “definitive plans” for the site, Barlow said. “Right now, it’s acting as a pretty important storage facility and interim location for our work staff.”
While it’s still possible that the site might be redeveloped, Barlow cautioned that the city would have to find another place to store equipment and supplies. The building’s midtown location is handy, he added. “Especially with the work that we just put into it, it’s going to probably serve a pretty important role for the next couple of years.”
Barlow said he didn’t know whether any site remediation would be required if the property is redeveloped. According to BC Assessment, the building was constructed in 1960.
