A6 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 17, 1996

BUSINESS REVIEW

Terrace building
boom continues

THE NUMBER of new homes being built
in Terrace continues to grow.

1995 was another banner year for the city,
with 87 new single and multi-family homes
going up, and the tolal value of all con-
Struction projects being pegged at $24.8
million.

Residential construction accounted for
$14.2 million of those doflars, that’s up
from $13.6 million the year before,

‘When a community of 11 thousand
people builds 72 new single family homes,
that’s probably among the highest in the
province,’ says Paul Gipps, the city’s
senior building inspector.

Last year it cost nearly $41,000 to build a
single family home, thal’s up six thousand
from the year before.

The average property cost has hovered
near $34,000 for ihe past two years.

Commercial construction figures saw the
biggest leap — up from 2.7 million in 1994

to a whopping $8,3 million last year.

Nearly 100,000 square feet of new office
and commercial space were added to the
city last year,

The Saan store on Greig, the Tolsec
building on Keith and the Medical Clinic
on Park, are among the main new struc-
tures.

“Terrace has seen exceptional building
years for the past five years,’” says Gipps.

So, what does the future hold in store?

Gipps Says this year’s figures should be
close to last year’s, if not better,

*‘T’'m going to be cautiously optimistic, ”
he says. ‘I feel fairly confident we're
going to have about 50 housing units,”

He notes the city is way ahead of the
norm and questions how long that trend
might continue,

He also predicts about 50 new mutti-
family units will go up, and is looking for a
strong commercial year as well.

PROVINCIAL ENVIRON-
MENTAL officials begin
going over this week what
others have to say about a
planned copper and gold
mine near Iskut

American Bullion
Minerals wants to spent up
to $300 million on a mine
having a 12-year life,

Government agencies and
the public had until yester-
day to give the provincial
Environmental Assessment
‘Office their opinions about
the project.

The office has set up a
project review committee
that will make recommenda-
tions to the environment and
mines ministers.

Under the assessment
guidelines, the committee

A Royal

has until Feb, 26 to recom-
mend a yes, a no or call for
a public hearing.

More than 290 people at-
tended open houses in late
November on the Red Chris
project,

Officials expect increased
access {to the Todagin
Plateau and sheep and
mountain goats on Todagin

Mountain ta he hio factors
in the mine project’s evaula-

lion.

Already an Iskut-based
group called Cassiar Forest
Watch is worried that a
mine, and its access road,
will pose a problem for the
sheep and goats,

But as of late last week,
there hadn’t been a lot of
public comments, said Les-
lie Hildebrandt, head of the
province’s environmental
assessment committee for
the project.

HOME CONSTRUCTION may have’ dipped slightly
from 1994, but the 72 new houses built last year still
underscores remarkable strength in the market.

Mine proposal under scrutiny

The proposed mine
18km southeast of Iskut vil-
lage, making it one of the
closest mineral properties to
Hwy37,

The access road to the
mine will be 22km and will
branch of an existing road
connecting to Hwy37.

American Bullion wants a
rough road now leading to
the sile improved so it can
lake out a bulk ore sample

Bronson Slope also in pipeline

RED CHRIS is one of two potential
mines now going through the environmen-
tal assessment process.

The other, the Bronson Slope gold/copper
property is in the Iskut Valley, a stone’s
throw from Cominco’s existing Snip gold
mine.

Developer International Skyline Gold
Corporation has already held open houses.

It foresees a development costing up to
$150 million, employing 250 workers dur:

ing construction and 105 people after that
over a 15-year life,

Public comment and government agency
reviews have to be submitted by Feb. 14,

The assessment project committee recom-
mendations are to be completed by March
25.

Main issues here are poteatial impacts on
fish and wildlife and the potential impact of
placing a run-of-river hydro electric facility
in the Iskut River.

search
for ore

THE NEW owners of a gold
property near Stewart cx- [i
pects to spend $8 million on |
more exploration this year.

Royal Oak Mines, which
took over the property last
year from Barrick Gold Cor-
poration, wants to increase
the amount of mincable gold
ore on the properly before
continuing any further,

"We've got 800,000
ounces of mineable gold
there now, We want fo reach
more than 1.2 million
ounces,” Royal Oak's Gra-
ham Eacott said,

“We're slill treating this
as an exploration project but
we are confident of more
Tesults,’’ he said.

Royal Oak assumed con-
trol of the property in 1995
agrecing to do at least $3
million worth of work there
over the next three years.

Should a mine develop
there, Barrick Gold will
receive a royalty interest.

“In the spring, after the
Snow goes, we'll be doing
surface drilling and continue
in an existing decline with
diamond drilling,’? he said.

Royal Oak is the third
owner of the praperly in two
years. LAC Minerals of
Toronto spent more than
$20 million on the property
in the early 1990s. Lac was
then taken over by Barrick
which put the property on
the block, saying it didn’t fit
in with its plans.

The Red Mountain Joca-
lion is 11km north of
Stewart on Hwy37 and then
I5km along a logging road
in the Bitler Creek Valley.

Royal Oak took over Red
Mountain as part of an am-
bitious mining program an-
nounced last spring that in-
cludes the Kemess South
gold and copper property
north of Smithers,

Royal Oak is getting cash
and help from the Victoria
as compensation for the de-
cision ta make its Windy

Craggy property part of the
Tatshenshini park,

for analysis.

The company estimates
the mine could employ up to
700 workers during con-
struction and provide jobs
for up to 350 people after-
ward. '

Out & About

Wal-Mart denies rumour

WAL-MART says the rumour it’s thinking of coming
to Terrace, B.C. is simply not true,

“That rumour exists in every community in North
America right now,’’ Wal-Mart real estate division
spokesman Peter Klein told the Standard from his of-
fice at the giant retailer’s corporate headquarters in
Arkansas.

Klein says they’ve made some exploratory trips io
B.C. to check out the province, but have no plans at
this time to open any stores, He had no idea where Ter-
face Was,

Student lounge planned

RENOVATIONS are underway to turn The Racquet
Centre at Northwest Community College into a stu-
dent lounge,

Proprietor Ken Hawkins plans to have seating for
about 40 people.

He’ll start off serving customers pop, coffee, juice,
snacks and sandwiches, but he also plans to apply for a
liquor licence to sell becr and wine.

If ali goes well, he says, it would become a pub in
lime for the start of classes next fall,

Patrons of the lounge would be able to watch people
playing racquet sporls, play a video game, watch TV,
and even surf the Internet al terminals Hawkins hopes
to sct up once a college Internet syslem goes on-line,

NWCC facilities manager Peter Crompton said the
college is paying for the $8,000 worth of renovations to
dismanUle a sauna and replace it with a wet bar and
tables.

‘'The sauna was a maintenance headache and wasn’t
being used by more than a couple of people,” Cromp-
ton said.

Hawkins rents the space from NWCC.

Dianna Janas
Owner/Siylist

Cyndee Goransrud
Stylist

HAIR

TerlAnn Martin
Apprentice Stylist

“Apprecia fee
“Program

Zz ae
Ken Kivi
Stylist

is offering

$10.00
OFF

A
Fuli Set
of Nails

Tricia Coté

Nail Tachnictan

4646 LAKELSE AVE.
TERRACE, B.C,

635-5727

AVES