PARK PLAZA DEAL APPROVED Members ral 1y to - Sunday, February 8, 1987 - North Shore News NEWS photo Tom Burley prevent health club redevelopment ABOUT 150 members of the recently closed Park Plaza’ Country Club met Thursday night to draw up a battle plan to save the club from redevelopment. The meeting, heid in the club’s banquet room, followed Monday’s B.C. Supreme Court decision ap- proving the sale of Park Plaza Country-Club to United Properties Ltd. for $2.1 million. That decision had been delayed in three previous court adjourn- ments made after two additional offers were tendered tc purchase the 4.38 acre property. In an enthusiuctic showing of solidarity, the members formed a nine-member Save Park Plaza committee headed by Alex Schatroph, which will officially urge;; North Vancouver District Council to adhere to its communi- ty: plan and keep the Park Plaza property. with«its current recre- ational-commercial zoning. The ‘offer :from- United is con- tingent on North: Vancouver By TIMOTHY RENSHAW . News Reporter District approving .a development on the property within 30 days of court approval. United president Victor Setton, who is out of town until Feb. 10, was unavailable for comment on . Monday’s court decision, but has said he will meet with former club members and area residents to discuss the future of the club property before his company sub- mits any plans for its redevelop- ment, Schatroph said members were especially concerned that such North Shore schools as Seycove, Carson Graham and Handsworth, which used the club’s 13 squash and racquetball courts, would be FOUR-YEAR-old Kymberly Grieder gets a helping hand from her dad Doran at Lions Gate Golf Centre. Kymberly has a handicap of only tive now,.but ber. dad predicts she'll make the- women ns! tour. next year. NCH eRR (se nee tana left without those recreational fa- cilities. “Our kids are the most sacred thing we have,’’ Schatroph said. “Recreation for them is extremely important. Where will they go without the club?”’ Schatroph added that about 1,200 of the club’s 1,500 members had been contacted by phone and all had been opposed to any redevelopment of the property. Traffic problems stemming from a residential development on the property, he said, would be “‘astronomical.”” Schatroph said the committee will explore the possibility of the club’s membership buying Park Plaza. The committee will also appear before district council to plead its case and report back to the club’s membership at another meeting in the club’s banquet room scheduled for Feb. 19 at 7:30. North Vancouver District plan- ner Kai Kreuchen said Tuesday, United has thus far submitted no plans for the Park Plaza property. In addition to United’s offer, Building Independent Living with the Disabled (BUILD) had offered $2.2 million to the property’s receiver-manager Thorne, Ernst & Whinney to buy the property and combine it with a seniors’ co-op. Fleur-de-Lease had also tendered a $2.55 million offer to buy the property. Prior to the club’s closure Jan. 16, a group of local businessmen had offered the receiver-manager $1 million cash to buy the club and continue operating it as a racquet sport and health Facility. Though former club members complained that Thorne, Ernst & Whinncy had not done enough to maintain Park Plaza as a health club, company spokesman Robert Cobb has said all attempts to make the club financially viable had been unsuccessful. APPROXIMATELY 150 membecs of the Park Plaza Country Chub met this week to discuss the future of the club, On Monday the B.C. Supreme Court approved the sate of the club to United Properties for $2.1 million, Weather: Sunday and Monday, mastly cloudy. Tuesday, a few showers. Highs near GC. INDEX Business ...........19 Classified Ads.......40 Doug Collins........ 9 ‘Comics ............39 Editorial Page....... 6 Entertainment.......22 Fashion............13 Bob Hunter......... 4 Lifestyles .......... 35 Mailbox............ 7 Sports.............27 TV Listings. . Travel... What's Going On....39 SCHEDULED TO START IN APRIL Semi-professional soccer| returns to N. Vancouver THE NORTH SHORE is set to take another kick at the semi-professional soccer ball. Vancouver television direc- tor-producer Tony Hodge said in an interview Thursday he is 90 per cent certain he will have a club together for the 1987 Pacific Rim Soccer League (PRSL) season, which is scheduled to begin in April. Hodge, who covered the 1970 and 1!974 World Cup soccer championships as a CBC radio and television reporter and pro- duced all of CBC’s televised North American Soccer League games, said another semi-profes- sional soccer team based on the North Shore ‘‘is absolutely viable, definitely.” The North Shore’s last run at the semi-professional game was with the North Shore Colts. Following an exciting inaugu- ral 1985 season, which included hosting an international - soccer tournament at B.C. Plece cele ate eo nte rr ee a) ca ey ate aa as By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter Stadium, the Colts became mired in debt with eventual losses estimated at $220,000 and subse- quently folded. In addition to financial pro- blems, the Colts were forced to suspend league play in 1986 after Kinsmen Stadium, the team’s home field and the only fully enclosed soccer field on the North Shore, was closed to allow North Vancouver City crews to overhaul its playing surface. The $150,000 upgrade put the field out of commission for all of 1986. North Vancouver City assistant engineer Hugh Mackay estimated that Kinsmen field will not be ready for use until the fall. But Hodge said the new soccer team will be able to operate ini- OP . ; Pei Se ee RESTO Se See tially without Kinsmen Stadium.’ ’ “It’s not a concern for the first season,’’ Hadge said. ‘‘We want the fans to see the calibre of s0c- cer we can produce.”” He said the team’s second choice after Kinsmen would be the Capilano College Blues’ sac- cer field. Hodge added that the team would be committed to providing the best soccer possible from a mix of local and professional tal- ent. “What we don’t have here (in Vancouver) is the close relation- ship between the community and the players and that's something we want to develop,’’ Hodge said. Teams in the PRSL can have up to five amateur players out of a 25-player team total. Players, fans or sponsors in- terested in more information about the new North Shore soc- cer team can call Hodge at 669- 1406.