When an “unhoused individual with a significant criminal record committed arson” earlier this month, Dr. Daryl Leiski and Cindy Zurowski said their lives changed forever.
“That one act destroyed our business, displaced 50 employees, and disrupted the lives of hundreds more – families, partners, community members, and neighbours,” the owners and co-founders of CrossRoads Brewing & Distillery wrote in a Sept. 16 letter to Prince George mayor and council.
The building at 508 George Street in downtown Prince George, which housed CrossRoads Brewing & Distillery, was destroyed when a fire broke out just before 3:00 a.m. on Sept. 5. No one was injured.
Richard Alex Gordon Titchener, 57, has since been charged with arson, causing damage to property.
Leiski told the Standing Committee on Public Safety meeting Sept. 16, that the devastating fire shines a light on the crisis downtown Prince George is facing.
“We are under siege,” he and Zurowski wrote.
CrossRoads, which operated on George Street for more than eight years, was not just a business, they said.
The brewery owners saw it as a major investment in the heart of the city, and built it on their belief that downtown Prince George could thrive.
The historic building was originally constructed as a garage and car dealership in 1946 and housed a number of businesses before sitting empty for many years, according to CrossRoads Brewing & Distillery.
The brewery owners said they purchased it and undertook extensive renovations, making it an anchor business in a revitalizing downtown area.
“We built it downtown because we believed in this city,” said Leiski and Zurowski.
“And it was lost in a reckless, deliberate act of arson.”
Leiski and Zurowski said they cannot continue to put their employees, families, community and businesses at risk, and are urging the province to take real, urgent and decisive action.
“Give us back our streets,” they wrote. “Give us back our sense of safety. Without it, businesses like ours cannot survive, let alone rebuild.”
Prince George mayor and council will be sharing the correspondence from the owners of Crossroads Brewing & Distillery with B.C. Premier David Eby during the Union of BC Municipalities annual convention in Victoria.
At the same time, council will be providing a public letter to Premier Eby requesting an update from the province on matters of public safety.
Leiski and Zurowski are requesting the city’s full attention and resources to make Prince George’s downtown safe and vibrant again.
“We will try to rebuild CrossRoads,” they wrote. “We cannot do it alone.”