INSIDE

TELUS shack to be demolished

“It will be nice to get that view back,” said Lighthouse Marine Park manager Ben VanBuskirk, imagining the tip of the park without a stout, gray, rectangular building on it.

At their December 5 meeting Whatcom County Council authorized county executive Pete Kremen to enter into an agreement with TELUS Corporation under which the B.C. telecommunications company would agree to the demolition of the building and pay for most of the cost.

The building once housed batteries that would keep telephone service between the lower mainland and Vancouver Island running if the power went out, Van Buskirk said. An underwater cable to provide telephone service passed under the building but VanBuskirk said neither that cable nor the building have been in use for at least twenty years.

“Right now it’s just sitting there with nothing in it,” Van Buskirk said. “B.C. Tel used to let us use it as a woodshop but the waves have seriously undermined it. It’s not safe.” He added the building provided a haven for vermin, one more reason they wanted it gone.

County public works will remove the building once permitting is complete, and TELUS has agreed to put up $6,000 of the estimated $9,000 it will cost to tear down the building and remove the concrete, according to the recently approved agreement.

“Most likely it’s going to happen next year and then we’ll top dress it to make the area look nice again,” Van Buskirk said.