Esther Short Park in the 1970s and 1980s; overgrown, poorly lit at night, many homeless people, also inhabited by drug sellers and users. A sketchy place during the day, dangerous at night.
The park today; old growth trees, spacious lawns, beautiful landscaping, constant activity, surrounded by new/revitalized developments such as the Hilton, Loowit Brewing, Tiger’s Garden, the riverfront development, a large number of small businesses and residential complexes. A downtown many of us love to frequent.
A more disturbing picture: wrecked and blackened buildings; trees leveled/uprooted; many dead and injured people; the carillon bell tower a pile of rubble; stores and condos leveled from a massive explosion and conflagration; businesses destroyed or leaving; a devolution of the downtown in the wake of massive destruction. A painful, unpleasant vision. Sadly, it could happen.
This is what we ultimately risk if the Tesoro-Savage (Vancouver Energy) oil terminal is built. They cannot guarantee such a disaster won’t happen; no amount of mitigation could possibly make up for it. So, why risk the future of our vibrant, revitalized community for a project that will cost more jobs than it creates (www.vancouver101.us), expose us to significant, catastrophic risk and possibly destroy our community … not theirs.
