release prowler Rash of break-ins prompts measure THE NORTH Vancouver RCMP took the unusual step of issuing a prowler alert this week following numerous similar break-ins to homes in the Central msdale area of North Vancouver City. By Michael Becker News Reporter Given the repeated patterns of crime, a police spokesman sai¢ the thief is well known to police. The burglar generally pries open ground-floor windows and enters, residences during.the night. Recently he has entered several homes in the city area to steal money and car keys. He then escapes in the victim's car. A 40-year-old North Vancouver womar who lives alone in the 200-block of West 6th Street became the latest victim of the nocturnal intruder on Tuesday night. Said the woman, ‘‘I didn’t real- ly notice anything until | went to work. I take the bus to work, but I leave my car in the garage. “Before I go to bed I sect out what I need in the morning on the kitchen counter. So I set out the keys, plus my bus ticket, plus my _ leather gloves.” In the morning the keys were gone, but the woman rationalized the loss. “I started looking for them, and I svas mad at myself because { thought I had done something stupid with them. So i took the spare keys thinking, ‘Well I’ve got to go to work,’ ’’ she said. When she went to pocket her bus ticket, it was gone. “TF thought, ‘Well that’s strange,’ but I kept on making up excuses thinking I might have picked it up by mistake with newspapers that I had thrown away,’” the woman said. She reached for her gloves — gone. “t thought, ‘This is weird,’ but I thought, ‘OK it’s not cold out, go without your gloves and get going to work,’ ” she said. An hour later she went to her NEWS photo Mike Wakefield MAJ. VINCE Larecque looks out of a window in the Lt. Col. J.P. Feli Armoury in North Vancouver. The building is undergoing major renovations for the first time since it was built in 1914. . Historic NV armory gets $1.2M A LOCAL historic land- mark is undergoing a $1.2 million facelift. By Michael Becker News Reporter The Lt. Col. J.P. Fell Ar- moury in North Vancouver was built in 1914 to house a com- pany of 100 military engineers and is now being renovated for the first time. The changes, which are primarily interior, will bring the federal facility up to current fire safety standards. The rebuild will also add of- fice, storage and classroom space for the more than 200 regular usets of the building. Much of the change is occurr- ing in the building’s basement, Daycare De) WEST VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL which once housed horses and horse-drawn wagons and _ trail- ers. Said Maj. Vince Larocque, commanding officer Six Field Engineer Squadron, ‘‘The build- ing has never had a major renovation. The basement itself was only excavated halfway back. The rest was crawl space. “In 1939, when the unit was activated for the Second World War, the basement was expand- ed to add rooms.”’ Work began this year on the project in mid-August. A two-bay basement shooting range is being expanded to four bays. On the ‘upper floor of the building an oak-wood parade square, the last in B.C., is being sanded down and shou!d hold up for another 20 years. A wheelchair ramp is being added for access to the armory, and wheelchair-accessible washrooms are being installed. Said Larocque, ‘‘They’re try- ing to maintain the exterior as much as possible. The windows are being replaced with replicas of the originals. They're trying to maintain the historic character of the building.” The project is expected to be completed by mid-spring 1993. The armory is used regularly by the 107-member engineering unit, 80 air cadets and 30 army cadets. : During the renovations, most of the unit’s operations have been relocated to a nearby Navy League building. Given the age of the structure, the construction contractor do- ing the work on the building has encountered the unexpected as the job progresses. facelift Said RMT owner Bob Trinder, ‘ biggest one is chat it didn’t have any footings under part of the walls. We had to underpin part of the walls with footings and foundation. One section on a slope was cheated on way back there somewhere."" Meanwhile, Larocque, who joined Six Field Engineer Squadron 20 years ago as a sap- per, is glad to see the armory updated. “I’m very happy it’s happen-- ing. These things move stowly, because there are a lot of ap- proval levels and then of course every time a change goes up the system it has to come down again, and the way the budgets have been in the last few years, it’s been ongoing for about 0 years,”’ he said. inaction worries developer Fate of two-parcel project on Haywood ‘Ave. stalled MUNICIPAL inaction over the relocation of a daycare in the 2400-block of Haywood Avenue in West Vancouver has raised concerns from both the daycare operators and a private company that wants to develop an adjacent lot. Representatives of the West Vancouver Child Development wallet to pay for a muffin and discovered $120 in cash was miss- ing. “Then I realized there’s too much that has gone missing,"’ she 44 Council may never chang the zoning. 99 By Maureen Curtis said. . She returned home and opened the garage where her 1990 Honda Prelude was left parked. The garage was empty. The woman has increased secu- rity measures throughour her home and has changed the locks. Meanwhile, the police describe the suspect as being a slightly built white male, about 5°10", in his mid-20s with straight brown hair past the collar. His usual dishevelled, and jeans and iunners. The North Vancouver Block Watch and the RCMP warn Cen- tral Lonsdale-area residents to be on the lookout for this individual and report aay suspicious activity to the police at 985-1311. appearance is he wears old Centre, which operates a daycare out of the municipally owned lot at 2478 Haywood Ave., and Par- van Holdings, which wants to de- velop the adjacent 2484 Haywood lot, appeared before West Van- couver District Council on Mon- day night. An arrangement under which the municipality hoped to see both lots developed together hinged on an acceptable alternative location being found for the daycare operation. . The child development centre’s vice-president Denise Clark re- quested information from council on the future status of the build- ing the daycare operates. Long-term repairs and plans for the daycare have been put on hold Contributing Writer while the daycare awaits news of the building’s fate. “Our purpose is to draw the council’s attention to the undecid- ed dilemma of the daycare,” wrote centre director Marianne McLaren. John Jalali of Parvan Holdings reminded council members that it had been about three years since Parvan had purchased the more westerly of the two lots. Jalali claimed that inquiries at municipal hall fed the company to believe that a rezoning of the lot would be considered, as have sev- eral other parcels of land between the 2500 and 2400 blocks of Haywood. After the lot was purchased, ‘Jalali said Parvan was offered the adjoining municipally owned lot. The company agreed to buy it and, as requested, provide some extra parking spaces for the Dun- darave business community. * Expecting the purchase to go ahead within six months, Parvan hired architect Robert Burger to prepare a plan for the two-parcel project. But the project then stalled over a lack of an alternative location for the daycare. Jalali complained to council that Parvan had wasted three years, $70,000 worth of ergineer- ing fees, municipal service charges -WV Mayor Mark Sager and thousands of dollars on the mortgage interest.’ Parvan, he said, had also at- tempted to help the daycare relocate, but was unsuccessful. Mayor Mark Sager reminded dalali that Parvan had purchased a piece of property that was zoned for a lower density use than what the company had proposed. According to Jalali, Parvan is now proposing to develop its property on a one-parcel basis. The proposal would provide nine parking stalls to the municipality and a legal promise of developing the district parcel when it becomes available after the daycare’s relocation.