WHITE ROCK - The lease for the former church building at 1174 Fir St. has been awarded to Brabeia Inc., a subsidiary of Prizebox Entertainment.
The company was the group that had initially approached Coun. Bill Lawrence about potentially using the site, which in turn prompted the reversal of the site's intended use.
The fate of the building's future had been supposedly set when council first voted to move the council chambers there in July 2013; however, that decision was revisited in September when Lawrence decided to rescind his vote, bringing the issue back for debate.
At the source of Lawrence's decision was software development company Prizebox Entertainment expressing interest in the potential use of the building. Seeing that as a potential opportunity for bringing some revenue in to the city, Lawrence opted to bring it back and council agreed.
Coun. Helen Fathers, who had been against the reversal of council's decision from the start, said she was disappointed by the entire process.
"It could have been a lot better," she said. Fathers said she felt the entire process was rushed and went against the intended vision for the building to be used as a community asset that would complete the civic block that also contains city hall and the library.
However, Fathers noted she had nothing against Prizebox, just the way things were carried out
"I have no problem with whoever is renting the space, I have no angst or axe to grind about the company. My only problem is that I really wish we would have directed them uptown to the town centre," she said.
"That would have been great to have them in the city and there are so many empty spaces uptown. There's going to be more and more and more."
Calls to Prizebox Entertainment were not returned by press time.
cpoon@thenownewspaper.com