Katharine Hamer News Reporter khamer@nusnews.com THE last cinema in West Vancouver will close its doors tomorrow. The Caprice Park Royal on the south side of Park Roval shopping centre has been running on a month-te- month basis since its lease ran our some time ago, said Park Roval general manager Rick Amantea. —_ Caprice management informed Amantes carly in September that audience numbers were too low to sustain the theatre. Amantea said’ mall management had been monitoring the Pertormance of the cinema tor a coupie of months and knew it wast doing well, However he had not been expecting the clo- sure to come prior to the usually- busy Christmas season. Caprice took over from former operator Famous Players five Vears ago. Amantea said the site had caused the same sorts of problems uver Cine Park Royal South theatre to sit empty; future use up in air “The facilin is dated,” Amantea said ofthe Park Roval cine ma. “The size of the seats, the screens... it doesn’t fit the cur- rent preferred models. [Us too old to compete.” The nwo other cinemas on the North Shore — the Cinepies Odeon at Park and “Filtord and the Famous Players) on Esplanade —- are owned by major corporauons. The West Vancouver Odeon at 15th and Marine Drive closed in the rid: 1980s te make way for a business complen. Amantea said the cost of upgrading the Park Reval cinema to modern standards would deter even a major chain. He said some other independent cinema chains have expressed interest in the site. But he believes maintaining the 35-year-old building is not economically viable. “The public has lost its desire to go to films.” he observed. for Famous Players as it has for Caprice. Cap rebuilt fer lano River weir hatchery Coho salmon returns well above recent leveis Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter adangcelo@nsnews.com A concrete structure in the Capilano River used to stop returning fish at the hatchery has undergone $400,000 worth of repairs. The weir, a small dam to trap fish, was built in mid 1950s shortly after the Cleveland Dam was constructed. The weir was originally a fence that directed fish into the fish way that is now part of the hatchery. The fence uséd to wash out so a concrete weir was built, said Mike Boss, senior engineer in the Greater Vancouver Regional District's (GVRD) water supply division. Boss said there was significant concrete ero- sion especially at the bedrock area of the weir in recent years. The repairs, which required Department of Fisheries and Oceans approval, started on Aug. 15 and are expected to be complete by next week. The repairs involved isolating the weir from ~ the river with a berm, cleaning debris our the bottom and filling it with concrete. Steel mesh sprayed with concrete was placed on the upper portion of the walls. The repair improved the strength of the weir’s walls. Boss said the exist- _ Trek to inspire ends Jan-Christian Sorensen - Sports Reporter | fsorensen@nsnews.com *. ABTER 205 days, 18,000 kilometres (11,185 miles) and too many flat tires to count, Brock Tully is ‘back in town. Tully departed Vancouver Feb. 6 with wife Wilma Fuchs and a support group -on. a cycling journey that took him through 31 of the United States and seven Canadian provinces. Their trek was dubbed “Cycling for Kindness:. A Journey to Join and Touch Hearts.” _ *A lot of people hear the news and start thinking that ‘the world is awful but things tend to make the news because they’re rare,” said Tuily, an inspirational speak- ing concrete was worn close to the reinforce: ments and weakened by years of water erosion, Boss said the weir is now expected to fast 75 years. “There were tons of fish that were right there, It was a real concern for us,” said Boss. “There were fishing hanging around in the pools right downstream near our little berm or dike. They would just sit there in the gravel and the bottom would be black with fish,” said Boss. Both Boss and Capilano Salmon Hatchery operations manager Reid Schrul said no fish died because of the weir work. Schrul said more than 17,000 fish have come back to the hatchery so far this year. They will be ready to spawn in October and November. The return- ing hatchery fish consist of mostly coho, some summer steelhead and a few early chinook salmon. Schrul said the numbers are well above numbers in the past five years. Last year, about 5,000 coho had returned by this time. “Ocean survivals have improved,” said Schrul. Schrul said weir erosion had been a concern for about eight years. The GVRD is responsible for the Cleveland Dam. The weir was part of the dam project. The hatchery is WORK on the weir near the Capilano Salmon Hatchery is expected to be completed by next week. ly found on the ocean floor. owned by the federal government. er and author. “My feeling is A protest was staged yesterday morning on the Lions Gate Bridge. The move was part of a three-day effort we had to do something by the Greater Vancouver Vote Society to alert commuters to a $75 vehicle levy proposed by TransLink. of Ocean Quest Water Sports : _ TransLink will host an open house on its Strategic Transportation Plan funding options Thursday, Sept. 28 at. were not availabie for com- See Kindness page 19 North Vancouver District halt from 6-9 p.m. “They just cuct fill the seat” Former owner Famous Plavers also has a covenant on the building preventing other operators showing first-run films there, Amantea said the closure of the cinema was “absolutely unre- lated” to 1997 plans by the mall to demolish the cinema, bowl ing, and golf compleves on the site to make way for big box stores, Those plans fell through after a Jarge-scale community out- crv. “This is a tenant issue.” Amantea said. “There are sul! viable leases on (the golf and bowling complexes.” Amantea said the cinema building would sit empty until a decision is made on what to do with it. The Caprice Showease chain still operates theatres on Vancouver Island, as well as Surrey, Tsawwassen, and on Granville Street downtown. ‘Yo press time, Caprice president Terry Weir was unavailable for comment. Trouble hit during deep dive From page \ monitoring the dive from the surface. The dive began at 9:30 a.m. Emergency services were contacted an hour later with a report of an accident, accord- ing to West Vancouver Police Sgt. Jim Almas. “They were going on a deep dive,” Almas said. “At around 90 feet (27 metres) the instructors found that vis- ibility was poor and instruct- ed the group to return to the surface.” Almas. said Chua and Dee encountered some difficulties and did not resur- face with the rest of the stu- dents. Dee made an emergency ascent and was towed to shore by surface support per- sonnel. He was unconscious ; bur still breathing when he ys was transferred to an air ambulance. Dee was released from hospital on Monday. Chua's body was eventual- NEWS photo Mike Wakefield Attempts by paramedics to revive him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Almas said there were a number of experienced divers in the area who waded in to help when they saw the . Ocean Quest group having problems. The cause of the accident is still being investigated. Almas said there did not appear to be any sign of crim- inal. negligence. However West Vancouver Police are still collecting statements from a number of witnesses. . An autopsy on Chua was scheduled for yesterday morning. ; Police have not yet inter- viewed. the — divers who brought Chua’s body up from the bottom of the acean. He said those people “might be able to shed some- light on what happened.” Three divers perished at Whytecliff in April 1996. David Nikkel, 24, and Dale Benjamin, 44, of Surrey, died along with — 23-year-old Andrew Peters from Langley. A-1997 inquest revealed that Nikkel and Peters — both rel- : atively inexperienced — had NEWS photo Mike Wakefield buoyancy problems during the dive. Benjamin died of embolisms related to a rapid ascent to the surface. To press time, the owners ment.