News wins

TEAMWORK AND improved
technique over last year helped
the North Shore News to vic-
tory in the media category of
the annual Bucket Brigade race
to promote fire safety and the
Pian to Get Out Alive Program.
The News team (right photo,
clockwise from bottom left) of
Mike Wakefield, Cindy
Bellamy, Lynn Ann Wedley,
Alison Shackell, Terry Peters
and Dave Megahy used buckets
to fill the 45-gallon drum in
1:28:03, easily defeating 97
KISS-FM (photo below). New
Westminster fire department
won the Plaza of Nations event
overall in a time of 1:13:11.

VERSATILE PACIFIC UNIONS

Tentative agreement hammered out

A TENTATIVE contract agreement has been reached be-
tween Versatile Pacific Shipyards Inc. and its 23 unions in

North Vancouver and Victoria.

John Fitzpatrick, chairman of
the Joint Shipyard Conference,
which represents Versatile’s
unions, confirmed Tuesday that a
memorandum of agreement be-
tween the two sides had been sign-
ed Friday.

But he said no details will be
released until union membership in
Victoria and North Vancouver
have voted on the agreement
Saturday and Sunday respectively.

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW
News Reporter

Versatile president David Alsop
also declined Tuesday to comment
on the deal until it had been
ratified by the unions.

The memorandum of agreement
was signed after almost 18 months
of bargaining and 53 negotiating
sessions. During that time, union
membership twice rejected com-

photos by Debaie Waketlald

pany offers by 96 per cent vote
margins, and voted 86 per cent
Sept. 27 in favor of striking.

Negotiating sessions
restarted Oct. 4.

A major issue in the negotiations
was a proposed two-tier wage
system that would have started
new semi-skilled and unskilled
workers at rates lower than those
of union members currently work-
ing with Versatile.

The company’s last offer was
for a five-year deal with zero per
cent wage increases in the first year
and three per cent raises in each of

were

3 -— Wednesday, October 19, 1988 - North Shore News

ot.

ST. ALICE’S lease on life
was extended Monday night
after North Vancouver City
Council voted to withold a
demolition permit for the
hotel until a private consul-
tant has assessed the histori-
cal significance and structu-
ral condition of the
building.

By COPANNE BJORGE
Contributing Writer

The seventy-six-year-old hotel,
located at 120 West Second St.,
has been under the threat of the
wreckers ball since the city’s con-
sideration of an Oct. 26 permit
application by Cressey Develop-
ment Corp. to construct a 28-
storey tower on the site,

Ald. Stella Jo Dean, a member
of the Heritage Advisory Commit-
tee, said the St. Alice Hotel is one
of the sites designated of primary
heritage importance.

HERITAGE SITE TO BE STUDIED

ice

HL
¢ aj a By

NORTH Vancouver City Ald.
Stella Jo Dean ...city paying lip
service to heritage?

calling the proposed development
“another monster to ruin our
beautiful waterfront.”

If the city’s consultant does
recommend preservation of the
site, councif may have bought
enough time to come up with other
development alternatives to the
highrise.

PUBLIC GIVES LOWER LONSDALE DEVELOPMENT INPUT: SEE STORY PAGE 11

“While it certainly isn’t as grand
as some of the buildings in Van-
couver,"’ said Dean, ‘‘it was called
the Grand Lady of the hotels here
(in North Vancouver).””

Dean criticized council’s past
performance in preserving heritage
buildings, even after having form-
ed a heritage advisory committee
last year. The city must start
preserving its past, she said
“otherwise the city is just giving
lip service to heritage.”

Ald. Barbara Sharp said it is
important to visualize what the St.
Alice Hotel might look like if it
was restored.

“(We have to) separate what we
see the St. Alice as, and see what it
was or what it could be,’’ she said.

But several council members
said they thought the effort to des-
ignate the St. Alice hotel as a
heritage building was a way to stop
or delay the proposed 28-storey
residential tower.

“I think we are hiding behind
heritage in this particular case,’
said Ald. Rod Clark.

Ald. Bill Bell agreed that the
heritage proposal might be a delay-
ing tactic. ‘‘This development
proposal took council off guard a
bit,”’ he said.

Bell said counci! had received
letters and petitions from residents
concerned about the height of the
proposed tower.

Mrs. B. Hanson of 603-114
Keith Rd. wrote a letter to council

the four subsequent years.

Union negotiators wanted a
two-year deal with no wage in-
crease in the first year and a five
per cent increase in the second.

The current contract expired
Aug. 31, 1987 and covered approx-
imately 1,400 Versatile employees.

In early September, Versatile
lost $3 million in ship repair con-
tracts after P and O cruise ship line
management became concerned
with the deteriorating labor climate
at Versatile’s North Vancouver
and Victoria yards. The contracts
went to a Seattle shipyard.

“If the report is in favor of sav-
ing St. Alice Hotel, then we can
negotiate (with the developer),’’
said Dean.

Dean said the city could consider
making a swap with the developer,
exchanging the site in question
with other municipal land in the
same area. If the zoning permits a
higher density, perhaps the
developer would be willing to
lower the height of its proposed
development, she said.

Dean also suggested negotiating
with the developer by taking ad-
vantage of alternative parking reg-
ulations available to historical
buildings.

“Ifa historical building is saved,
then there may be a relaxation of
parking," she said.

Business .............. 40
Classified Ads..........53
Doug Collins........... 9
Or. Auth...............50
Editoriat Page.......... 6
Food... woe 43
Bob Hunter.........

Lifestyles..............49
Mailbox............... 7
Sports ................ 15
TV Listings............46
What's Going On........45

WEATHER

bVednesday, isolated
showers with sunny
breaks. Thursday, mostly
cloudy with chance of
showers.

Second Class Registration Number 3885