Planning for future of B.C. psychiatric hospital site quietly halted
CTV
A years-long planning process to determine the future of the Riverview psychiatric hospital grounds in B.C. was quietly halted at the start of this year, CTV News has learned.
A years-long planning process to determine the future of the Riverview psychiatric hospital grounds in B.C. was quietly halted at the start of this year, CTV News has learned.
The site in Coquitlam was renamed Sumiqwuela in 2021 when the Kwikwitlem First Nation signed a partnership agreement with the province, and the website posting joint updates with BC Housing still says parallel master planning processes are underway.
But in an interview with CTV News, BC Housing’s Director of Land Development for Sumiqwuela/Riverview revealed that the agency had halted that planning earlier this year with no timeline for resumption.
“Reconciliation is really important to be seen as a journey and not a milestone,” said Lauren English, describing the focus being on developing the relationship with the Kwikwitlem First Nation.
Despite years of consultation, announcements, and meetings, BC Housing has nothing to show taxpayers or people desperate for access to intense mental health and addiction treatment.
“There is not a plan for its redevelopment right now,” said English. “There is not a plan for what buildings will be maintained, what buildings will be removed, what kind of uses will be introduced on the site– that does not exist at this point in time.”
Despite the Riverview Hospital being officially shut down in 2012, a handful of the historic buildings on the campus are still in use for psychiatric treatment, as are two new facilities opened in recent years.
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