Renew or replace Riverview?

Last chance to comment on your views about the Riverview Hospital site.
    Commenting closes on February 12
You will need to register at the Placespeak site, then navigate to this posting:  A vision for renewing Riverview
Good luck with your quest to be heard; apparently the person who created the posting does nor know exactly where riverview is ! see picture below, somewhere up on top of Mary Hill

 And the Renewing Riverview website which appears to have been taken over by B.C. housing, and further crafted to their development at a loss to the public, apparent mandate.


And some more recent news from the papers:
LETTER: Riverview lands in Coquitlam can still heal
The Editor, In 1904, the provincial government purchased a thousand acres in rural Coquitlam for the future Riverview Hospital.

LETTER: Public property & mental health keys

LETTER: Refurbish Valleyview building
 [  I agree that this solidly built building should be repurposed, and NOT torn down.  ]

Development threatens Riverview

 LETTER: Majority has Spoken, province not listening (  top right  )

Kwikwetlem First Nation files Supreme Court challenge for traditional lands
 Parcel includes Riverview Hospital and Colony Farm Psychiatric Institute lands

[  Selling themselves far short here, since it is a well-known fact that the  Kwikwetlem peoples in the past utilized a very large portion of the Coquitlam watershed, and even had a summer camp at Coquitlam Lake.  Much like the last Provincial land sale where the Province handed over roughly 10% of the proceeds from the sales; 10% !!!  Why not 100% ? ]


Coquitlam council slams Riverview ‘sales job’ [ Where lone coun. Terry O’Neill defends the governments decisions to develop. Obviously a Lieberal Christie Clark, fan. ]

Willingdon to move to Riverview

 Apparently today December 17,2015 at Valleyview 300 an announcement was made.
The Renewing Riverview folks have put up a PDF outlining this Vision

Online open house from Thursday, December 17, 2015 – Friday, January 29, 2016 on  PlaceSpeak
Sadly the participants are required to sign up to this privately-owned forum; and the process to do so is convoluted and confusing :(  which has been pointed out to the people in charge before, but nothing has changed.

 Send the facilitators of the "visioning process" an email to share your thoughts.   questions@renewingriverview.com

So it appears that The Maples   the  Provincial Assessment Centre,PAC   and the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, BCMHA  all at this time based in Burnaby, will be moved to Riverview.

A quick glance through the PDF finds numerous mistakes, half-truths, and outright wrong facts, strewn throughout the document.  I would expect much better and indeed the public should expect more accurate and truthful reporting in such a document. 

Sadly the bureaucrats and their paternalistic attitudes want to sell-off large portions of the property, using their break-even formulae; Which means really that the public will lose control off a large portion of this property, and we the public will have nothing to show for it, since any profits will be swallowed up paying off the various leeches, that make a living preying on the Public purse.

 Various news sources:

Mental health facility, commercial district are in works for Riverview
Six-week feedback period for Coquitlam lands vision; Kwikwetlem looks to receive benefits

 Riverview Lands revisioning to include new mental health buildings
The former psychiatry facility has been sitting mostly empty since it was shut down in 2012

 Three programs to move to new facilities on Riverview grounds

 New Riverview plans don't meet B.C.'s mental health needs, say UBC researchers
The province says the days of locking up people with mental health problems are over.
[Oh, really ! hopefully some bureaucrat can explain what is going on at Colony Farm, and Cypress lodge, which is on the site. Some patients have to be kept secure, for the staff and the public safety, and above all for the Patients safety ]

Third open house

Well the dates have been confirmed: The Renewingriverview folks are hosting another information gathering exercise for Riverview.

     Apparently Stanley King is also facilitating these meetings and  their expertise is primarily focused on building and site planning.  [ Never knew that we were at that stage in the process; I want the satin silk pleated curtains in a burgundy-peach please; and the platinum- plated outdoor taps would be a nice touch ]

The third round of Riverview Open Houses will be interactive. Join us and brainstorm ideas in a collaborative  session and see your ideas come to life with the help of an artist.

☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮

Session 1

Date: Tuesday, September 23, 2014      Time:  4:30pm ­ - 8pm
      4:30pm - Sign Up and Open House
          4:45pm - “A Day in the Life” Brainstorming
              5:30pm - 7:30pm - Artist Sessions – (small group sessions run approximately 20 minutes)
                     7:30pm - 8:00pm - Viewing & Rating

Place: Douglas College, Coquitlam ( Atrium )
Address: 1250 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam

☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮

Session 2

Date: Saturday, September 27, 2014      Time: 10am – 1:30pm
     10:00am - Sign Up and Open House
           10:15am - “A Day in the Life” Brainstorming
                   11:00am - 1:00pm - Artist Sessions – (small group sessions run approximately 20 minutes)
                            1:00pm - 1:30pm - Viewing & Rating

Place: Centennial Activity Centre
Address: 570 Poirier Street, Coquitlam ( Entrance off Winslow Avenue )

☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮

If you cannot attend the Open House in person, we invite you to participate online at Renewingriverview

 Illustrated ideas from the sessions will be available to be viewed and voted on between October 1 and October 10.

Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.

Chi Chi Cai (B.A., M.Pl.)    ccai@brookpooni.com

Planning Analyst| Brook Pooni Associates Inc.

Suite 410 - 535 Thurlow Street, Vancouver, BC  V6E 3L2

☎ 604 731-9053 ext. 122       Fax:   604 731-9075



To  register, contact:   ☎  604.216.7057
   e-mail:     questions@renewingriverview.com

April almost May

Tri-City News:  Survey says: There should be a wellness role for Riverview Hospital lands


Open houses for the Second round of Riverview consultations — with the theme “creating goals” — will be held Saturday, May 24 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Dogwood Pavilion in Coquitlam ( find Dogwood Pavilion using a Goole Earth kml file )
and
Wednesday, May 28 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Kyle Centre in Port Moody. ( find Kyle Centre using a Google Earth kml file )

 Further open houses are slated for September and December. For more information, visit renewingriverview


Letters to the editor:  Just reopen Riverview

Also somewhat related to Riverview, but in Colony Farm:  Keep pipe out of park


UPDATE:  The Renewingriverview folk finally posted the next Second round of dates and information gathering opportunities on their website HERE 

Also the First round of public consultation summary has finally been released, download the PDF of it.

And I transcribed this letter to the editor and place it here since it is pertinent. ( sadly all to frequently not all news, letters, etc makes it into the online electronic side of the news industry.)

The Editor,

Re. “Bailey bridge battle brewing” (The Tri-City News, April 9) and “Hallway medicine?” (April 11).

The old expression “beating your head against a brick wall” came to mind as I contemplated the ongoing dispute between Coquitlam and New Westminster over the Band-Aid Bailey bridge at Braid Street.

It seems the Royal City believes it has some royal prerogative to unilaterally frustrate regional transportation issues despite the fact that it lost out to Victoria when the provincial capital was moved there 150 years ago. Such quaint and parochial delusions of importance, or the converse claim that poor little New Westminster is bullied by its larger neighbours, just don’t cut it.

This delusion persists despite the royal tour by New West city councillors of neighbouring councils pleading the case for their version of a Pattullo Bridge opt ion. (This tour bypassed Coquitlam council, perhaps because New West rightly believed its reception here would be even worse than the negative reactions they received in Port Coquitlam, Burnaby and Surrey.)

There are other regional problems and initiatives that may find solutions in a rethink outside of the box in which New Westminster likes to reside. One deleterious consequence of its failure to think regionally is the very real threat of constricted access to Royal Columbian Hospital, the only regional piece of infrastructure that New Westminster embraces. But I don’t think that even Port Moody’s push for expansion of Eagle Ridge Hospital’s emergency room offer anything but a stop-gap measure to ensure health, safety and timely services outside of New Westminster.

Perhaps it is time to push for a larger regional hospital presence outside of the Kingdom of New Westminster. It seems to me the Riverview Hospital site may present an alternative to the transportation grid-locked Royal Columbian Hospital. The Riverview site is well-served by transportation corridors, the site is available and money designated for a Royal Columbian expansion could be diverted to the benefit of all.

E.C. Eddy Coquitlam

Riverview for Sale?

   Received this message, I have added  the correct links. As usual a very short period of time to respond, not unusual considering the short attention span of our commandant.

BC Housing will be distributing to over 16,000 Coquitlam households. [ A PDF of it HERE, a simple message, reproduced almost entirely below ]   I am advised that BC Housing will also be running ads in a number of media publications starting next week including the Tri-Cities NOW, Tri-City News, Metro Vancouver, and 24 Hours. They will also have digital ads on the Vancouver Sun and Province websites.

Their website – www.renewingriverview.com [ Actually  http://renewingriverview.com/     RENEWINGRIVERVIEW  ]  – goes live on Monday, Feb. 17th. After the Riverview site goes live, Corporate Communications will be promoting the open houses via the City website and social media channels.

      Please Join Us at Our First Open House for the Riverview Lands Vision Process.
The Riverview Lands have over 100 years of significance in the province of British Columbia and the region. We would like to hear from you as we explore the possibilities for the future of the lands through a Vision Process.

Two Open Houses have been scheduled to serve as an introduction to BC Housing, the project team and the Vision Process.  We look forward to your feedback.

For more information, please visit our website    www.renewingriverview.com  [ renewingriverview ]

     or contact:

          ☎  Telephone:  604.439.8577          ✉  E-mail:   questions@renewingriverview.com

Renewingriverview on Twitter :    @RenewRiverview   tweet, tweet

Identical information will be available on both dates.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

4:30pm - 7:30pm (Drop-In)

Burquest Jewish Community Centre

2860 Dewdney Trunk Road, Coquitlam

[  View in Google Earth using a KML File   ]

Saturday, March 1, 2014

10:00am - 2:00pm (Drop-In)

Centennial Pavilion, Centennial Room,620 Poirier Street, Coquitlam

(Beside Dogwood Pavilion, entrance off Winslow Avenue)

[View in Google Earth using a KML file ]

[  From what I have been told, 7 days after this meeting, all public commenting will close  ☹   ]

Virtual Open House

       If you cannot attend the open house in person, we invite you to visit our website: www.renewingriverview.com  [ renewingriverview ] and participate in the online Open House. The Open House material will be displayed on this website starting February 28, 2014 and you will have the opportunity to submit your feedback.


Not much electronic chatter about this open-house.   Social media chimes in on Riverview

Have your say electronically, must sign up to comment at the B.C. Housing Corporations,  facilitators web forum  ( Placespeak.com )

             -30-

Just by chance I found this myhealthmycommunity ( many very similar named sites out there too ) It has been up since June of 2013, but no mention of a cut-off date.
Which is a website put up, by Fraser Health, and Vancouver Coastal Health looking for input, I say give it to them; but be kind.  ☺

        Lets all overload the servers involved, and send a collective message, to save Riverview, for whom it was intended all along, the health of the people of British Columbia, NOT the short term gain of some government accounting department.

          In the newspapers:

And now for something on a happier note, trees and women, article from the Vancouver Sun.
 Shelley Fralic: Surrey arborist sees the forest for the trees
      Carolina Arango hopes to get more women interested in arboriculture

Time to speak on Riverview   and   Open houses on R'view future start soon   [ outlining the first lead article in this post ]
 February 21, 2014 Tri-City News   click through to page a14
             Market Housing will be part of talks on R'view
UPDATE for the above, the Tri-city news, has not put this article online, so I transcribed it, and put it HERE
Finally ! the paper uploade it:  Market housing will be part of talks on R’view   (exact article, sans one picture )

Demolition at Riverview raises concerns.   [ Eminent Destruction of the Transport Garage, or as the Hospital Annual Report, named it, "Central Mechanical Depot" was built starting in March 1954, and added to throughout the years. Picture of the site  for the history books, now.  Hopefully not the start of a destructive frenzy. ]
  A few pictures for posterity

 

 Note the barn, long gone, and the gas pump close to the garage.

Before closure the gas pumps were further away in the top left area in this image

A good possibility that a few of the previous residents of Riverview, went to this care home, which has been told that Fraser Health will not renew their contract with them.Apparently Fraser Health wants them to provide more specialized care, which needs more room, to provide.  Hmm, Now where is a place that has lots of room and provided specialized care? The now gutted Valleyview 300, comes to mind instantly, North Lawn, also gutted and empty.
 Family speaks out over Coquitlam care home closure
                                         Coquitlam seniors care centre to close?
Continuing privatization of the health care system, with patients being used as pawns, in a nasty and cruel game, that will probably lead to the early demise of some patients.

CBC News Vancouver  Nov 15, 2013
Pieces of the land could be sold off to build condominiums   short video news item highlighting Coquitlam.
Missed this from last year, still pertinent though.