Vancouver School Board launches public consultation on future of Kingsgate Mall

For over 40 yearsthe Kingsgate Mall hasescapedVancouver's never-ending facelift,servingits Mount Pleasant patrons with an eclectic mix of stores andservices in aglam-freeenvironmentreminiscent of the1970s.

Surprisingly, the modest little mall hasalso beengeneratingbig moneyfor theVancouver School Board upwards of$750,000 per year, The VSB hasownedthe East Broadway and Kingswayloton which the mall sits since1892when the long-goneFalse Creek School firstopened on the site.

But 124 years later andfacinga $24 million budget shortfall,theVSBis now contemplating its future with Kingsgate,and asking for public input.

"One of the questions we're asking is what do you think the school board should do with it," said VSB chairman Mike Lombardi.

According to Lombardi, the VSB could see revenue from the property increase to $2 million annually money which flowsdirectly into theoperations budget, offsetting the deficit. The lease with mall operator,Beedie DevelopmentGroupis set to be renegotiated next year.

Selling the land is also a possibility, althoughmoney raised from a sale won't help the budget shortfallbecause it would berestricted tocapital projects like new school construction and buildingupgrades.

Lombardi says the latest assessment pegged the Kingsgate land valueat close to$80 million, up 42per cent from last year's assessment of $56million.

"We've made a decision not to sell school sites andwe think that'simportant because we'llnever be able to buy school sites again," he said,noting thatKingsgate falls outside of that rule as one of four non-school properties owned by the VSB.

"We don't want to do anything that's not in keeping with the residents or community," he said.

Anopen house is scheduled for May 1.

With files from Farrah Merali