Town buys prime downtown land

By ROY WOOD

The Town of Oliver has jumped into the downtown revitalization game with the purchase of a prime chunk of Main Street real estate.

Mayor Ron Hovanes told Monday’s council meeting that the town recently used $162,000 of the land reserve fund to purchase three lots from local businessman Adam Sabyan.

The vacant parcel sits on the east side of Main Street between the Edward Jones office and the Oliver Garden Chinese smorgasbord restaurant.

Hovanes said he hopes to create a brainstorming group of local people to discuss options for the property.

He said using money from the property reserve account essentially just changes the form of the town asset. “At $162,000 it’s certainly not a bad investment,” the mayor said.

He said there are already ideas being floated about what to do with the land, including some sort of “municipal enclave” where town operations could be centered or commercial development on the street level with strata title residential above.

In the meanwhile, “We have a really nice parking lot until we decide what to do,” Hovanes said.

“It could be very exciting,” said the mayor. “It could kick start downtown core redevelopment.”

The property, currently fronted by a tall hedge, is the former home of the Collins Department Store, which was destroyed by fire in 1974. It has been vacant ever since.