The Vesuvius Inn building is getting a facelift. The contractor will keep the look of the old building as a nod to its history, while converting it to a single-family dwelling.
Robert Langevin, the property owner and contractor, said, “There’s a lot going on there and our new building will reflect not only the look of the pub that it had before but the pub reflected the look of the original hotel. I’m going to keep the main building, re-use it, re-fashion it, make it new again and it will still look similar, but prettier.”
Langevin’s original plans for the property were to make six townhouses, but that proved impossible with the North Salt Spring Waterworks District moratorium on new hook-ups. Though the property was zoned for commercial use, the water issue essentially led to a downzoning from commercial to single-family residential.
“The property was zoned for many things — a pub, a restaurant, a hotel, a campground, a marina, a commercial outlet . . . it was zoned for all of those things,” he said. “However, in reality, because you couldn’t get water or BC Ferries wouldn’t allow a marina or a dock or a number of things . . . it already had been downzoned, just not on paper.”
While work has started on the property, Langevin is only so far preparing the property for construction. The building has a few rotted pieces and the work being done is purely for maintenance at this point.
“We’re removing the old stucco and getting it ready for the construction, which will come along in the spring,” he said.
For more on this story, see the Jan. 31, 2018 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.