The City of Terrace is embarking on the first step of what it expects will be a complete overhaul of the 4600 block of Lakelse Avenue in the heart of the city by looking for a contractor to remove the canopy overhanging the sidewalks on both sides of the street.
Erected in the 1980s when the city’s primary downtown block was last redone, the canopy is considered outdated, dilapidated and structurally unsound.
It has no current owner and no insurance although a legal opinion requested by the city in 2021 argues that despite the lack of clarity is to who is responsible for it, liability rests with the city because it overhangs a city-owned sidewalk.
Businesses along the 4600 block and the city began discussing the future of the canopy five years ago with first thoughts of fixing up the canopy instead of removing it. But that idea never moved forward.
Instead the city has now pencilled in $500,000 using money from a major provincial grant to remove the canopy this year.
The project is in two parts — safely removing the canopy with as least disturbance to businesses along the 4600 block and then repairing any damage to the business facades caused by the removal.
The city hopes the work can be done by this fall.
Removal of the canopy is regarded as a first step toward a redesign of the 4600 block to make it more attractive and person-friendly. The work will be accompanied by replacing underground utilities, requiring the entire length of the roadway to be torn up and then rebuilt and repaved.
Although the city and merchants have begun discussing the overall project and concept of a new-look, a final design has yet to be approved and no money has been assigned to cover the costs.