Jane Emerick
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Electrical repairs are necessary for another of the Mining Museum's buildings and although all options were considered, paying the bills was chosen over asking the tenant to leave.
"I believe we have found a resolution that is positive on all fronts," said Kirstin Clausen, executive director of the BC Museum of Mining. "Certainly some electrical work will be happening that allows the current situation to continue into the future."
She said the non-profit mining museum weighed all options before making its decision about the fate of the residential building located next to the former 99'er Restaurant.
Recently the 99'er was forced to close after owners refused to pay for electrical repairs on the building they were leasing from the museum. The same fate seemed to be in store for a tenant of the adjacent building.
According to Clausen, if the electrical repairs were not made, the rental tenant would have been asked to leave."Negotiations were ongoing," she said. "We had to figure out what to do as we went forward."
Clausen said the house is different than the 99'er, which was asked to pay for the electrical repairs out of its own pocket, because it is a residential building and not a commercial enterprise.
"The tenant of the house can't be legally obligated to make the repairs," she said.
Clausen said the string of electrical repairs needed for the museum is a result of a "spotlight" on Britannia Beach because of a new power supplier.
"B.C. hydro is now the supplier of power in Britannia Beach for the first time and the infrastructure has to keep up with the changes, which is challenging," she said.
Andy Jones, in charge of maintenance at the Mining Museum, is the current occupant of the house and has been so since 2003. He said he would have been disappointed if the repairs couldn't be made and he had to leave.
"If the museum couldn't afford it then I would have had to find a trailer on the hill," he said.
"I would like to stay longer, it's beautiful here. You've got snowcapped mountains, the ocean, trains, planes and automobiles everything."
Jones said since living in the house he has been making repairs on the building but only because he enjoys the work."I've put on new roof and upgraded the water system," he said. "I like doing it."
Clausen said the decision made by the museum is successful at satisfying everyone's needs.
"We have been working very hard," she said. "The tenant is happy, we're happy, the electrical inspector is happy."The only stipulation made by Clausen is the repairs done to the house may be a short-term solution. She said the extended future of the house is still unknown.
"Certainly into the immediate short term there is no fear of anything that will cause the tenant any discomfort," she said.
