Victoria firefighters were still putting out hot spots at midday after a fire broke out early Wednesday in the Turner building, a long-vacant, boarded-up former eatery slated for redevelopment.
There were no injuries and no one was inside the building at the time, according to the fire department.
Victoria Fire received a report just after 4 a.m. of a structure fire at 2002 Richmond Ave. on a slender triangular lot near Royal Jubilee Hospital. Five fire trucks and a 13-member crew arrived to find smoke coming through the building’s roof.
The two-storey 1946 building, with its distinctive rounded frontage, once housed the popular Ian’s Jubilee Coffee Shop but has been vacant for more than two decades. At various times, it also housed a convenience store and a flower shop and had apartments on the second floor.
Steve Serbic, the Victoria Fire Department’s deputy chief of operations, said crews took a “defensive attack,” tackling the fire from the outside. He said there were several safety concerns about entering the building, including the instability of the building’s interior.
The boarded-up building was then partially opened up, but firefighters were still at the scene at midday trying to eradicate the source of the stubborn smoke.
It was clear people have entered the boarded-up building at some point, Serbic said.
A fire inspector was checking out the situation, but given the number of previous fires in that location, it’s not expected the cause of the fire will be found, said Serbic.
The City of Victoria plans to board the building back up once it’s safe to do so.
Victoria city councillors voted unanimously in October to move forward a proposal to replace the Turner building with a six-storey rental and retail project that includes a new public plaza.
The project, proposed by Empresa Properties, would have a rounded end and art-deco style, with amenity space on the roof and three commercial units on the ground floor. The project including 55 residential and three commercial units is to be built over three lots, creating a parcel bordered by Richmond Road and Birch and Pembroke streets.
On Empresa’s website, the architect for the property is listed as Cascadia Architects with Biophilia Design Collective as the landscape architect.
The proposed public plaza would require the closure of a portion of Birch Street at the intersection with Richmond Road, and would feature trees, patios and seating areas and space to support the commercial businesses inside the new building.
There was an earlier attempt to redevelop in 2015, but a plan drawn up by architect and former Victoria mayor Alan Lowe did not proceed and the building was boarded up.
ceharnett@timescolonist
