Jack O’Halloran has an idea to keep the Site C dam’s massive worker camp out of the landfill: bring them to Surrey.
“It’s absolutely gorgeous. Ten years ago, it was state of the art for a worker,” O’Halloran, the CEO of the Surrey Urban Mission, told Global News.
When O’Halloran learned that the camp, which housed nearly 2,000 workers building the $16 billion hydroelectric dam, would be vacated by end of summer and could end up in the scrap heap, a lightbulb went on over his head.
“If we were to get half of that, we would absolutely wipe out homelessness in Surrey,” he said. “In 2023, our count was about 1,100 homeless.”
BC Hydro is currently looking for a home for the facility, which includes dorms, kitchens and dining buildings, along with a fitness centre, gym and theatre, accounts for nearly 62,000 square metres of buildings — about 1.5 times the size of the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Earlier this spring, the Crown corporation alarmed directors with the Peace River Regional District when it began inquiring about sorting requirements and capacity at the North Peace Regional Landfill.
A spokesperson told Global News earlier this week that the priority is to find an organization or a company to take ownership and reuse the structures.
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But they warned they weren’t well suited for housing because they lack individual kitchens, and the rooms have windows that don’t open.
That’s no problem for a supportive housing facility, O’Halloran said.
The organization already operates one 60-room project called Safe Sleep which uses a commercial kitchen to serve three meals a day to residents in a common dining area — much like the worker setup at Site C.
“We have 60 rooms here, nobody has a kitchen. They have their own washroom, they have a bed, and they have a desk, but it’s their own space,” he said.
“They’ve got one window that doesn’t open … That’s not a big deal.”
Surrey City Councillor Linda Annis said there are big questions about the idea, but that it’s certainly one worth exploring.
“What we need to do is look at what the financial cost is of moving it down to Surrey to make sure it makes sense financially, but we have been struggling with housing for people who are homeless, and we need to get it fixed, and we need to get it fixed now, and I think we should certainly look at this,” she said.
“One of the things I do like about it is that it could be done quite quickly.”
O’Halloran said he hasn’t yet spoken to BC Hydro, but intends to make contact this week to “throw our hat in the ring.”
He acknowledged that bringing the project from idea to reality will require some serious work — including transporting the structures, funding the transformation, and finding property to reassemble it on.
But he believes the project is transformational enough it could bring both the federal and provincial governments to the table, and has already been in contact with several Surrey MLAs to press the concept.
BC Hydro says about 90 organizations have asked about the buildings, and that there are several it is speaking with in more detail.
The Crown corporation expects the facility to be occupied until the end of the summer, when the dam comes fully online.
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