Stakeholders are being brought together to decide what to do with the site of the Riverview hospital.
The province wants it to involve new developments that will make it more cost-effective. It says funding for any upgrades would have to come from revenue generated on the property, with one option being a new movie studio.
Managing Riverview currently costs taxpayers about five million dollars a year.
Originally opened in 1913, the former facility for people with mental illness closed in 2011.
Coquitlam’s mayor Richard Stewart says the city wants any future use of the site to include mental health and addictions services.
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Stewart says three buildings built in the last decade still house under a hundred mental health patients, who are transitioning back into the community.
But, many other buildings on the property are by-and-large empty, and are often used in film industry.
“It is quite a special piece of land for Coquitlam. it is right in the middle of the Lower Mainland — 250 acres of very serene and tranquil place, that I think Coquitlam residents truly value,” says Stewart. “So we want to have a dialogue about what the land can be used for and what some of the heritage buildings can be repurposed to if it is possible.”
Stewart says Clark’s government made a commitment to not sell off the site as part of the surplus asset sale.
“The intent is to find revenue on the site,” says Stewart.
Critics are calling for the provincial government to reopen a mental health facility that’s been underused and largely abandoned for years.
Advocates say too many people who need help are living on the street without the services and resources they need.
Meanwhile, arrests under the Mental Health Act in Vancouver have quadrupled in the past decade.
Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu says his police officers are on the front lines of mental health response.
In September, Vancouver’s mayor and police chief declared a mental health crisis in the city and demanded action from the provincial and federal governments. But Premier Christy Clark said last month that her government will not re-open Riverview.
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