Mayor Sharon Gaetz watches as UFV president Mark Evered shakes hands with BMO vice-president Henry Donkers at a press conference downtown Chilliwack on Friday. BMO has donated the $850,000 building to the university.
Photograph by: Paul J. Henderson , TIMES
The sad story of BMO Bank of Montreal's move out of Five Corners downtown Chilliwack has a happy ending after all as the financial institution has donated the building to the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV).
The Chilliwack Economic Partners Corporation (CEPCO) will pay up to $650,000 to renovate the building that by fall 2013 will host UFV classes.
At a press conference held inside the old bank Friday, a bank official and CEPCO representative handed over a symbolic key to UFV president Mark Evered.
"We see a real value in having a space right at the core of Chilliwack's downtown," Evered said. "This generous donation by BMO and the additional support provided by CEPCO will help us to play a lead role in the revitalization of the area and address the educational needs of the business community."
Evered said no concrete plans were in place in terms of what courses would be offered at what is to be called the UFV Plaza, but he suggested the programs would likely be aimed at supporting the business community.
"We are exploring a number of ideas," Evered said, adding later that the location might be a good place for ElderCollege.
Valued at $850,000, the donation is the largest BMO has ever made in British Columbia, according to Henry Donkers, vice-president of personal banking for BMO.
Add CEPCO's $650,000 donation and the $1.5 million value is the largest gift UFV has ever received.
"Rather than just turning their back on [the building] they've turned it into a positive thing," CEPCO board chair Bruce Van Den Brink said. "It could be a good foundation for the future of the downtown."
Mayor Sharon Gaetz lauded the donation and the positive news for downtown.
"What an exciting day for the City of Chilliwack," she said. "I'm glad Santa Claus came to town a little early. . . . How absolutely incredible that University of the Fraser Valley will now be in the heart of downtown."
Gaetz made a nod to the city's long-term vision for the Yale/Young block across the street.
"I imagined when your students look out this window maybe six of seven years from now and they will see an incredible development in front of them and maybe some of them will live in the apartments up above," she said.
In November, city hall issued a "notice of intent" to expropriate the Irwin Block at Five Corners as part of the plan to assemble a 1.5-acre piece of the block for possible residential/commercial development.
