In the late 1960s the Anavets Senior Citizens’ Housing Society constructed three buildings in North Vancouver to house veterans, their widows and other seniors in the community living on fixed incomes.  In 2010 those buildings, on separate parcels adjoining each other, were fast becoming outdated and in need of replacement.

Quoting Society President Bill Calvert:  “Because of this facility’s age, it lacks things that seem so standard to more modern developments, like a sprinkler system, kitchen fans and proper ventilation.  A fire would have been devastating.  Our attention was focused on creating a safer more comfortable environment.”

For 15 years the Society looked for a way to replace the aging buildings.  Available property for new housing is hard to come by in North Vancouver so figuring out a way to redevelop the current location was a challenge.  With available land for development opportunities limited in North Vancouver, BC the Society came together with developer Intracorp in a redevelopment project that will deliver safe and affordable rental housing for seniors.

Intracorp approached the Society with a redevelopment proposal that we could not turn down.  Their proposal included constructing our new building at 245 East 3^rd Street.  Then, with the new building complete and the tenants moved into it, Intracorp would purchase the remaining two parcels of land for construction of a market condominium building.  Other developers that we met wanted to build their building first and then our building later, which would require us to move 88 tenants elsewhere during construction.  Intracorp being willing to build our facility first, meant that we would only have to move 18 tenants during redevelopment.  Those 18, along with the tenants remaining in the other two buildings will move right into the brand-new building upon completion.

Construction is now well underway and when the new building is complete it will include 22 studio apartments and 54 one-bedroom apartments.    Construction will be complete by the fall of 2012 and the facility will meet LEED Silver certification.

ABOVE: Ground Breaking pictured from Left to Right:  Bill Calvert, ANAVETS President; Mary McLeod ANAVETS Administrator, Naomi Yamamoto, MLA North Vancouver–Lonsdale; Mayor Darrell Mussatto, City of North Vancouver; Don Forsgren, Intracorp – President, West Region.

PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

The driving force behind the $16.3 million redevelopment was the partnership created between the Province of British Columbia, Intracorp and ANAVETS.  Through this partnership, the province will provide $12.8 million in construction financing while ANAVETS will provide three parcels of land, including the property for the senior housing valued at about $3.5 million.

The Portage la Prairie Unit #13 has been running a weekly draw called “Chase the Ace”. The game managed to run for 43 weeks and accumulate to a pot worth $18,235.00.  During this 43 week period we have had a very busy unit on Saturday afternoons.  As the pot got bigger and bigger the line ups at the door to come in also got longer and longer.

The Scarlet Lounge would be full of prospective winners, well players at least…. Our executive and some volunteer members were a great help in making this game a big success.  From Vaughn working the door to Linda helping cook the hot dogs and smokies, the afternoon would be busy with members and guests, playing card games and shuffleboard while waiting for the Meat Draw to begin and then the Chase the Ace to be drawn.  This game helped our unit raise over 75 new members and became the talk of the town.  We heard of places where on Monday morning the staff would talk about the events of the Saturday’s draw and discuss their strategy for the next Saturday.  It gave us a boost of morale that we so desperately needed.  As this event did not need publicity (word of mouth seemed to be enough), we were very surprised when the local paper wanted to come out and see it for themselves. So on Saturday February 11^th; with the local paper in attendance one of our members, Kora-Lee Thornsteinson picked the Ace of Spades.  The crowd erupted and many offered congratulations to the winner.

Now that the Big Pot was won we are starting our next game and hope that this game will be as much fun as the last one.

Pictured Far left – Angela Hourie (executive) Betty Roe (president) Kora-Lee Thornsteinson receiving the cheque and family members in attendance.

Lennoxville Unit 318 recently held their annual Children’s Winter Fun Day, under beautiful, sunny skies on Sunday, February 26, 2012. We had a fair turn out for this traditional event, with around 24 kids, ranging in age from 2 to 12 years old, who showed up at the club to participate in this fun filled day of both indoor and outdoor games, sleigh rides, sugar on snow and much, much more. Unit 318 has been organizing this special day for the kids for many years now and we structure the many activities to encourage team work and participation, with a healthy dose of physical activity and fresh air. Team trophies are awarded for the different events and individual medals are awarded to all of the kids that participate. Many thanks to the volunteers, who organize, supervise and make sure that the kids have fun, particular thanks to Bruce & Pat Neil, Andrew & Marie Letemplier and Fred Wright for all that they do to make sure that the kids all enjoy their Winter Fun Day experience.