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Why not build new hospital out of wood?

Using one of B.C.'s prime natural resources might be key to a new Terrace hospital
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EIGHTEEN-STOREY wooden student residence under construction at UBC.

PEEL back some of the walls erected from renovations or additions to Mills Memorial Hospital over the years you might find a bit of a surprise – metal studs used for framing. And this in a region where logging and milling put food on the table.

But changes now in building codes and manufacturing advances make large wooden structures practical.

So why not a new Mills made out of wood? It would demonstrate the use of one of our province’s natural resources and, at least symbolically pay homage to the forests which surround us and drive our economy.

And perhaps, just perhaps, it would be the kind of political good news that would appeal to a provincial government which so far seems stubbornly resistant to the calls for a new Mills Memorial.

(Editorial, The Terrace Standard, Sept. 28, 2016)