VICTORIA — The Fairmont Empress Hotel, which has overlooked Inner Harbour for 106 years, will get a $30 million ($26.7 million U.S.) renovation, its new owners said.
“We are working with our interior designers [and] our architects on mock-ups for the rooms and common areas. So everything is on the go as fast as we can,” said Nat Bosa, who bought the hotel with his wife, Flora, in the summer.
The Vancouver, B.C., couple last week opened the skating rink on the hotel’s front lawn, three blocks from the ferry landing for the MV Coho from Port Angeles.
Bosa said the project also includes a “high-end rental accommodation” call Residences at the Empress at the corner of Belleville and Douglas streets.
It will occupy the Empress-owned site of a bus depot that carries passengers to Butchart Gardens and Vancouver.
There was no announcement to where the bus station will move.
“The very first time I saw it, I said, ‘That doesn’t belong here. It doesn’t do anything for this hotel,’ ” said Bosa, a property developer and philanthropist.
PT businesses open
PORT TOWNSEND — Downtown and uptown Port Townsend will sponsor Main Street Merchant Open House and Small Business Saturday this coming Saturday.
Caroling in the streets with the Wild Rose Chorale uptown and downtown is from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
There are in-store treats, and many shops will extend their hours to 7 p.m.
For more information, contact Dawn Pierson at admin@ptmainstreet.org or 360-385-7911, or visit www.ptmainstreet.org.
Winter sign-ups
SEQUIM — Sequim Pre-3 is enrolling for the winter quarter.
Winter classes start Tuesday, Dec. 2, and Friday, Dec. 5, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Sequim Worship Center, 640 N. Sequim Ave., next to the library.
Sequim Pre-3 Co-op is a nonprofit early learning program for parents and children. Parents come weekly with their children (ages 10 months to 3½ years) for a variety of activities that focus on music, art, social interactions and dramatic and outdoor play.
For more information, phone Julia Buggy at 360-504-1011 or visit www.pre3.org.
Museum hailed
VICTORIA — Reviewers on the travel website TripAdivsor.ca have declared the Royal British Columbia Museum as No. 1 in a list of the Top 10 museums in Canada for 2014.
The museum has been a “Travellers’ Choice” winner on the website for several years.
Both awards recognize top attractions worldwide based on millions of reviews and opinions from TripAdvisor travelers.
The Royal B.C. Museum and IMAX Theatre, two blocks from the landing of the MV Coho ferry from Port Angeles, welcomes almost a million visitors annually to its location at the corner of Belleville and Government streets.
$2,000 donation
SEQUIM — The Sequim-Dungeness Hospital Guild recently received another donation from “Cards for Cardiacs.”
This group of men and women play bridge for charity and over the years have given thousands of dollars to the hospital guild to support its various charitable causes.
The recent donation was a check for $2,000, which will help fund the guild’s gift to Clallam County Fire District No. 3 in December at its annual Christmas luncheon Dec. 5.
Anyone interested in joining Cards for Cardiacs can phone Berneita Miles at 360-683-3694 for more information.
Construction company for kennel
PORT ANGELES — The Olympic Peninsula Humane Society has named Hoch Construction of Port Angeles as the general contractor for a dog kennel building to be constructed as part of the Humane Society’s new shelter at 1743 Old Olympic Highway.
Work has already begun at the property thanks to a donation by Green Crow, which completed all of the preliminary site work needed to begin construction.
Lindberg and Smith Architects is the architect and project manager for the dog kennel building.
The estimated total project cost for the new shelter is $1.4 million, which includes construction of the dog kennel, renovation of three modular buildings on site and all infrastructure.
As of mid-November, $1.025 million has been donated. Fundraising will continue during the project in order to secure the remaining $400,000 needed.
The construction is anticipated to begin in the next two weeks and will be an eight-month project.
For more information about the project or to make a donation, phone the Humane Society at 360-457-8206.
KONP talk guests
PORT ANGELES — Here is this week’s schedule for the 1:05 p.m. to 2 p.m. local talk show segment on KONP radio, at 1450 AM, 101.7 FM and www.konp.com on the Internet outside the Port Angeles area.
Station General Manager Todd Ortloff hosts the Monday through Thursday segments.
This week’s scheduled lineup:
■ Monday: Master Gardeners Jeanette Stehr-Green, Judy English and Bill Wroble.
■ Tuesday: Clallam County commissioners.
■ Wednesday: Vicki Everrett, a dietitian with Olympic Medical Center, on “The Holidays and Beyond: Making Healthy Choices.”
■ Thursday: Closed for Thanksgiving.
