tel aucti Stan Laurel holds : Avalon memories Jan-Christian Sorensen Contributing Writer JOEY Tribbiani and I have at Jeast one thing in common besides our sandwich fetish. Friends’ resident unemployed actor and “How you doin” spouting Lothario and I both were scared out of our wits as youngsters by Stephen King’s The Shining, The novel featured the sprawling, spectral Overlook Hotel, shape-shifting topiary animals and Shelly Duvall : knocking Nicholson cold with a b: _ iF ball bat on the grand staircase. OK, so I take my King with a dash Of Kubrick. - Standing in the deserted hails of the .' Avalon Hotel on Monday morning, a a: shiver sliced through my spine: Room : Those three numbers immediately -conjured up images of hundreds of sleepless preteen nights spent checking and rechecking the pressure gauge on ¢ basement furnace as I wrestled ‘through slitted cyes to get through the ovel. i ‘Alright, so while it may not have been the Overlook exactly, the empty ‘Major deck fire med and hair.singed. NEWS photo Miko Wakatield THIS life-size statue of comedian Stan Laurel was purchased for $425 during the Avalon Hotel and Bar auciion on Monday. Avalon hallway only helped to remind me of the cerie atmosphere of King’s creation. The hotel was open for viewin Monday morning belore the buiiding’s contents were auctioned off to the highest bidder. The Mark James Group, whic! bought the hotel in July, will begin demolition immediately to make way for a Chapters, Starbucks and Avaton brew-pub. Once finished, the new building will total about 43,000 sq. ft. (3,995 sq. m) — about 10,000 more square fect than the oid Avalon. Construction is expected to be finished in February. Over 600 lots were on the block as people bid for everything from brandy snifters to electric meat slicers ta a case- ful of old Donna Summer, Juice Newton and The Knack LPs. Downstairs, Love’s auctioneer Nick Van Dongen stood atop the bar, selling Wednesday, June 7, 2000 - North Shore News - 3 on draws cri bits and pieces of the old hotel and tas- era, Dave McKinnon shelled out $425 ng, life-sive statue of Stan something to remember the place by.” he said. “I'm really gonna miss it. [t's like home to nic.” MeKinnon’s frend was not as senti- mental about the purcha: “That buddy of mine just bought that damn statue,” he laaghed, shaking his head. “I can’t believe it.” Larry Cotterall, who worked main- tenance for the hotel, said that people were chomping at the bir Monday morning, hoping to get a fook at some of the items going on the block. “They were pounding on the door to get in at quarter after six,” he said. Hardy souls, considering the view- ing didn’t even begin until 9 a.m. Upstairs, I decided to swallow my fear and venture inside room 217. Quickly checking the back of the door (no “REDRUM,” thank God), I inched my way into th: bathroom. 1 breathed a sigh of relief. No bloat- cd, purple corpse rising from the bath- tub for some grotesque embrace. Just fixtures and tile and mirror. Jan 1, The Shining 0, Take that, Stephen King. Parking expansion proposed From pase ¥ Bay.” Moonen also said the cor- poration’s “ane-nvo punch — an information display one night, a public meeting the next night — does net repre- sent meaningful public consul- cation.” Key among residents’ con- cerns has been the heavy traffic congestion not just in Horseshoe Bay but su. ching out along the Upper Level Highway as far back as the Cypres. Bow! exit. i hopes to expand! parking at Horseshoe Bay, bur because of the furore caused by the large proposed above-ground parkade, the corporation is now consider- ing an underground parking expansion. The original plan called for a three-storey, 350- vehicle above-ground parkade. Other terminal __ plan changes include a 50% zedue- tion in rock excavation to make way for a holding com- pound expansion from 650 to 1,200 vehicles. Realignment of southbound highway lanes would replace the need for NV firm lands $1.6M dea Michael Becker ‘News Editor mbecker@nsnews.com THE United States Coast Guard recently -bought $1.6 million worth of navigational equipment from a North Vancouver company. ’ . Offshore Systems finalized negotiations on an order for Offshore’s Electronic: Chart. Precise Integrated ‘ Navigation System (ECPINS) that’s expected to bring “ more business from the U.S. Coast Guard. _The navigational system is capable of continuously determining a ship’s position in relation to land, charted objects, aids-to-navigation and hidden hazards. . The coast guard uses the ECP{NS system on its buoy-tending, vessels. John, Jacobson, president and CEO of Offshore Systems, said Offshore has generally seen a growth in - coast guard and navy contracts to governments in the U.S. and Canada. He attributes it to a growing awarc- ness and acceptance of the capabilities of the technology. Les. Offshore. was founded in North Vancouver in 1977 to develop technologies designed to provide positioning “services. for specialized maritime applications. The first . | averted “As Tupper tried to help the woman, another bystander shut wi the main gas line from the'feeder.cank and went to work the flaming craft with a fire extinguisher. Bit the. fire had spread under the engine cowling and proved ; lode). FAS cat ‘hard “circles around ‘the boat with his Sca-Doo, trying to use the flames with the resulting spray. After about five min- Utes; upper: id; the fire started to die down. He then towed the horesothe North Vancouver District fire department ° sure that the blaze was completely our.. ~ : three®.oc pants were taken to Lions. Gate’: ital: Their injuries were not life-threatening. : ther: boate who ‘witnessed. the explosion ‘said. Tupper’s tO ‘prevent more people from getting Joh: y “a nearby dock with his girlfriend, try-:. repair some motor problems with his vessel when he heard tt catch: at was'in fam heard a sound and we looked up and the »_ “That’s when Mike’ came into play. It’s a very... thing he did; towing the boat out like that. A lot of people ECPINS was sold in 1993. Offshore has provided electronic chart systems for navy, coast guard and commercial vessels. More than 200 systems are in use by smal! ships to 1,000-foot bulk carriers. : Offshore has spent most of its existence as a world leader in the development and. manufacture of clectron- ie chart instruments. Jacobson said the competition — such as U.S.-based Litton Marine — had caught up at one point, bur Offshore’s focus on government con- tracts is paying off in terms of pushing the company’s drive for innovation. “We're constantly refining the product. Government markets have specialized requirements. That makes us a software company and a manufacturer.” Jacobson said Offshore saw a 30% growth last year in the U.S. market. The company now docs more business in the U.S. than at home in Canada. “The U.S. business is growing quite rapidly and we .” see that growth continuing. The biggest benefit to being in Canada has been being a supplier to the Canadian * Coast Guard and Navy.”. pat : Offshore employs 54 people at its head officein North Vancouver, The company also operates offices in - Maryland and Montreal. _ ? blasting original bedrock. BC Ferries still intends to build a new maintenance facil- ity at the terminal — although the buiiding will) now be placed beside. a ferry dock rather than near. Gleneagles school as originally envisioned. The corporation: will also revamp the foot passenger ticketing and administration building as outlined in the ini- tial development plan, adding ~ an off-street passenger drop- off zone, emergency fane, off- street queuing, bus zone and secure terminal access and baggage handling. ae _” With the PacifiCats now up = for sale, commercial traffic will © ' ‘continue: to flow .through Horseshoe Bay for the foresec-. - able future. ‘ To press ime, councillors ° | had not had an opportunity to - thoroughly review the docu-- ‘ment, ee However, Coun.*’: Alla Williams said ‘at. Monday’s: ~ council meeting that council. would “continue to press B Ferries to restrict their. activ ties in Horseshoe Bay. : - MIKE Tupper-hauls the burning vessel away from the Seycove. Marina gas bar in Deep Cove after the craft exploded into flames on Saturday. Ee ee