The “staircase to nowhere” is set to get a makeover.
Because the City of New Westminster demolished the western portion of the Front Street parkade as part of the Front Street Mews project, it was required to replace the existing fire exit ramp and stairs for the adjacent building at 642 Front St. When the mews opened last summer, the fire escape became a bit of a curiosity because it stood in the middle of the sidewalk and didn’t connect to the building.
“It is now connected, as we said it would be,” said Coun. Chuck Puchmayr. “We are now just looking at how to put a little bit of lipstick on it. We have a functional, modern, bylaw-mandatory fire escape, as required by law.”
In response to some concerns about the size and esthetics of the new staircase, city staff contemplated whether to remove the stairs and provide a different emergency exit or to keep it and enhance its appearance. The city ultimately decided to keep the staircase and enhance its appearance through public art.
New Westminster city council recently approved a recommendation from the city’s public art advisory committee to consider a “programmable public art space” for the fire escape stairs, with a cost of up to $75,000. Council also directed staff to engage an artist or designer through a public art call for the production and installation of an integrated public artwork on the structure.
Amir Aminpour, an engineering projects manager with the city, said the cost of the recently completed fire escape stairs is $248,000.
Coun. Bill Harper said he’d like the concept chosen for the public art to tie into other themes or strategies taking place in the city, such as heritage, environment, multiculturalism and Intelligent City initiatives.
Decorative metal screens, artistic projections and lighting are some of the concepts that could be explored as a way of enhancing the structure.
“The city had no choice but to replace and build the new fire escape stairway that we see. The reality is they are quite utilitarian and look quite stark in the new urban environment that we have created down on Front Street,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “I think this is a real good test to see how public art can sometimes soften the edges on some of these more utilitarian, but needed pieces of infrastructure that are required. I think this is a really good use of resources.”
