Everyone knows that the newspaper can’t possibly give the whole story on an issue, but yet so many people react as though they have all the facts because they read about it in the Peace Arch News.
Myth: The tallest building approved for the Town Centre is 23 stories.
Despite this persistent popular myth, the building is 21 stories. That’s a simple fact. If you don’t believe me, go to City Hall, ask to see the building plans and count the floors yourself.
Just because a promotional illustration from very early in the design stage appeared to have 23 floors if you counted the windows doesn’t mean that is what is being built. What matters — what is accurate — is the plans approved by the City, not the promotional concept drawing. I’m certain that if the developer had anticipated the hassles of a clutch of conspiracy theorists nitpicking over the number of windows on a conceptual drawing, they would have had the artist redo it.
Myth: The mayor tried to stick the City with a $35,000 bill for the bears.
The mayor did not try to get the City to pay for the bears. She made a clumsy error of protocol and procedure. She did not break any rules or laws. She made an error. She feels dumb, apologized and fixed it without spending a penny of City money. Let’s move on, already. It’s long past time to get over it.
Myth: The City had to appoint a committee to figure out what to do with the bears.
A Public Art Committee was already needed to deal with a completely different donation of public art. It is actually more expensive and proposed for a more prominent location than any of the bears. But the way it sounds in the news is that the committee had to be set up just to deal with Judy’s bears. It does make the story more interesting, unfortunately it’s not true.