A new paint job always attracts a little bit of attention.
But in the case of Merritt’s Coldwater Hotel, it’s a welcoming presence for anyone in the LGBTQ community.
Hotel owner Marla Reed opened up her parking lot to students who had their idea of painting a rainbow crosswalk shot down by city hall last month.
“It was just a really sad day when they were told no. So without having to go through the government channels and that, we have a parking lot and we have the space and the paint – and so we got to include them in what they were ultimately hoping to do,” she said.
“We’re hoping it will be permanent-ish. I know that every winter, the salt and the sand rubs it off, but I don’t think we’ll have a whole big trouble getting enough volunteers to keep it pretty and colourful.”
Merritt Secondary School students planned to paint the crosswalk at no cost to the city, but council voted it down 4-3 with the mayor noting it could “open kind of a Pandora’s Box” for any group that wanted a special crosswalk of their own.
On top of offering up her black top to the group, Reed also flew a pride flag from the top of her hotel.
A pair of Vancouver lawyers also stepped up offering their parking lots to the students.
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