CITY COUNCIL Jan. 27 gave final approval to a bylaw to borrow $177,000 to buy the property on which the former Terrace and District Chamber of Commerce building sits.
The land was owned by the provincial government and the purchase goes hand in hand with the city buying the building itself from the chamber.
When coupled with borrowing $85,000 for the building's purchase, the city has now taken on $262,000 in new debt.
The property, located at the Keith Ave./Hwy16 entrance to the Real Canadian Wholesale Club, is also home to the Kermode Tourism Society and its tourism information centre.
That the city owns both the property and the building was not part of the chamber of commerce's original vision.
Its building had been on the location for 30 years thanks to a lease payment of $1 a year.
When the province announced it was going to sell off land it didn't need or want, the chamber was interested.
But because a provincial policy gave the City of Terrace first crack at the purchase, the chamber was left out in the cold.
It then found it could not afford the city's new lease rate, leading to the decision to sell the building to the city and move to a new location above Speedee Printers on Lazelle Ave.