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the business world with LinkedIn

And more!

proposed for waterfront

> New Westminster sees rising ventures

Aaron Guillen Staff Reporter

Reon Bosa Developments pplied for a special development

permit for two of their proposed buildings on the 660 Quayside Dr. lot, one at 43 stories and the other at 53 stories, just 4 metres shy of the Seattle Space Needle. Bosa plans

to fill out the waterfront skyline while connecting the River Market to the Westminster Pier Park.

The proposed developments include expanded greenspace for Pier Park, a Begbie Street plaza, a commercial space and child-care facility in a two-story building, five townhouses, and underground

SPOTLIGHT: Takeac

and surface-level parking.

Larco Investments, the previous owner of the zoned area, sold the property to Bosa over the summer. Over the past 20 years, Larco has been in talks with city developers to find the best way to introduce housing projects with five towers, but evidently came up short. Agreements shifted back and forth between company and city, and Larco wasn’t able to make ground on further plans. With the development of Pier Park and the teardown of the majority of the Front Street parkade, the Larco parking lot has remained a desolate slab of concrete year after year.

“The Larco parking lot has started to fall into disrepair,”

Mayor Jonathan Cote told the New

> DSU Salsa Club promises to spice up campus life

Aaron Guillen Staff Reporter

or those who have visited the

New Westminster campus, it’s impossible to avoid seeing students dancing in the atrium. Whether it be at New Westminster or David Lam, The DSU Salsa Club, one of the two dance clubs at Douglas, prides itself in the strong representation it holds on campus. Thanks to Sharinder Riat, President, and Abraham Castanon, Vice President, the club has been growing at an alarming rate.

“This semester we had hundreds of new students sign up to our club and roughly 20 members per class. Furthermore, we have also seen an increase of members coming out to support our parties and workshops,” said Riat.

Notably, the dance club has taught

choreography to new students during the annual EDGE event, performed during the opening of the Sol Garden at David Lam, and volunteered at the Century House Association by giving the elderly a dance lesson. The DSU Salsa Club started up seven years ago, but within the past two years, under the leadership from Riat and Castanon, the club has found an irreplaceable home in Douglas—perhaps even for those who don’t attend the college.

“Some of our members, who aren't Douglas students, want to come to our classes because, not only do they want to learn from us how to dance, but also the friendly environment we have created. Some of the members come to our lessons even though they don’t have class that day,” said Castanon.

By attending dance lessons hosted by the DSU Dance Club, students are able to meet new faces, learn new moves and routines, and get their feet

Westminster Record this past June. “Lactually think it’s going to be an exciting project that is going to be an important piece of the puzzle for our waterfront vision, but also for downtown revitalization. The long-term vision to have some residential development and expand Westminster Pier Park on that site is a city objective. Larco, traditionally, will be landholders and hold properties for long periods of time, and they have done that with this site. Bosa more consistently, when they buy a site they generally do have intentions to move forward with the project.” Bosa will wait for further developments as council takes staff reports into consideration for the approval of development permits.

moving. While new college students are known to succumb to the freshman 15, Castanon hopes students find an exciting way to exercise in one of their weekly meetings.

“With the salsa dance, there is a lot of movement involved—many of the moves require speed, strength, and coordination,” comments Castanon.

“By repeating the same patterns of movement dancers sometimes get exhausted quickly. Even if you don’t do cardio, you can still have an enjoyable time. Salsa dancing is just a compliment to staying fit, but it is a good start for someone who needs some motivation to stay active.”

Every semester, the club hosts fundraising parties after midterms. On November 4, they will be hosting a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) party in New Westminster’s DSU Building. For the lessons itself, salsa and bachata

Image via skyscraperpage.com

Until then, Councillor Patrick

Johnston has expressed concerns of the

proposed skyscraper developments in

regards to the River Market. Should

construction occur, he demands access

via Begbie Street, understandably due

to the repercussions of the parkade

teardown on Front Street merchants. “I know this site has always

been seen for its opportunity on

our waterfront and has always been

viewed as the missing link,” said Cote

to the New Westminster Record. “There is no doubt when the

community first starts to see this

application, the first thing that

is going to catch their eye is the

height of the buildings. These will

by far be the tallest buildings in

the City of New Westminster.”

hance, learn to dance!

are held on Fridays from 2-4 p.m. in the Dance Studio, and new to this semester, casino rueda (group salsa) is taught on Wednesdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m. “While I am a part of the club

and continue to stay because of my passion for dance and music, what really makes me stay is the friendly fun environment that has been created [...] these members have become my circle of friends,” said Riat.

“Having a leadership role in this club has really developed my social skills, and as a Sports Science student, I’m able to utilize my knowledge when helping to prepare the class, or helping those who may have some trouble with the dance movement at hand. Why not join? The lessons are free for students, you learn a lot, create friendships, and as a group we go out a lot to other salsa events in the city, go out for dinners, and we throw amazing school parties.”