It was a $200K staircase to nowhere, now New Westminster is turning it into public art

For a time, a staircase stood outside a heritage building in New Westminster, connecting to precisely nothing.

It wasn’t an art project, but it will be soon.

WATCH: The City of New Westminster builds a $200,000 staircase and may move it

1:46 The City of New Westminster builds a $200,000 staircase and may move it

The staircase in question is a fire escape that, over the summer, wasn’t connected to the building it was supposed to service.

The structure was built at 642 Columbia Street after a portion of a parkade was torn down.

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At the time, there were concerns about overhanging wires.

The staircase has since been connected to the building. And the city has invited artists to turn it into a “public art piece.”

“We are going to be looking for artists to interact with the staircase to make it fun, to make it animated, and to really blend it with the rest of the animation that’s happening on Front Street,” said Biliana Velkova, arts coordinator with the City of New Westminster.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We are going to be looking for artists to interact with the staircase to make it fun, to make it animated, and to really blend it with the rest of the animation that's happening on Front Street," said Biliana Velkova, arts coordinator with the City of New Westminster.

At this time, there’s no certainty as to what the fire escape might look like as an art project.

Artists could possibly decorate it with lights, with sound, anything that could “add to the public realm that we are creating around Front Street,” Velkova said.

READ MORE: New Westminster spent $200K on a stairway that leads nowhere

Over the summer, $200,000 had been spent to build the staircase.

Turning it into art is expected to cost $70,000.

And that figure doesn’t sit well with Harm Woldring, owner of The Wine Factory on Front Street.

“I don’t know how you turn something like that into something interesting,” he told Global News.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I don't know how you turn something like that into something interesting," he told Global News.

Woldring is reserving judgment on what the staircase might actually look like.

But he questions how much money is being spent on it.

“It’s not a permanent structure and it’s only going to be here as long as these buildings are here,” Woldring said.

“How long are these buildings going to be here?”

Artists who are interested in animating the fire escape can do so until March 1.

The $70,000 must include all costs including artist fees, consultant fees, site preparation and more.