Cloverdale Mall Getting Ready for Demolition

A couple of days ago a security fence appeared around the Cloverdale Mall's parking lot. One can no longer enter from 58th Avenue. There is a small parking lot area off the 57th Avenue entrance, presumably parking for the demolition crew.

The parking lot around the Cloverdale Legion has no changes.

I noticed a security guard in a car near the 58th entrance last night.

The parking lot where the church patrons parked on the alley on the northeast corner of the mall is also fenced in. Today there were several cars parked there and the door to one of the churches was open. I guess today or this weekend is final clean up day for them and the fence was moved so the cars could get inside to pack up.

The name of the demolition company is on the side of the fence but I don't remember its name. I'm assuming the fence is up so random people can't just come in and scavenge. There is already a pile of metal stacking up near the 57th Avenue entrance. That may be a result of some of the clean up inside the mall. Aside from some pre-demolition work I noticed rooftop on the mall in December there is no signs of major demolition starting yet.

In about a year's time construction is to begin on the site and will be a combination of commercial and residential units above.

I hope the new building fares better than the old one. I remember the original Cloverdale Mall being built in 1973 on the old baseball fields. Almost from the beginning it was leaky. And after 20 years most of the tenants had had enough and were moving to new locations. They're tearing down a building that isn't quite 40 years old.

Playing at the Clova from January 28 to February 3 2011

Playing this week at the Clova starting Friday January 28 to Feb 3 is:

7pm - Gulliver's Travels

8:40pm - Little Fockers

Last show lets out at 10:20pm. Admission is $8. Or $15 for 2 people. Add $4 for each extra person in your group.

No Smoking in Cloverdale?

A lot of the shopkeepers in Cloverdale have signs in their window provided by the Surrey bylaws officer reminding people they can't be smoking within 3 meters of a doorway or window of a business.

I'd say not everyone complies with this. I walk my dogs in Cloverdale frequently and there are often people standing in front of shops, within a meter or so of the door having a smoke.

Right in front of the Clover Inn the sidewalk is covered in cigarette butts. I've seen people throw their cigarettes on the sidewalk just before going inside. I can see why the inn does not provide ashtrays outside there because it encourages people to hang around smoking but I'm not sure why the maintenance crew at the inn doesn't go outside daily to sweep up the sidewalk.

The city went to great expense a couple of years ago to update downtown Cloverdale and put in lovely new stamped concrete sidewalks but doesn't seem to get after the proprietors for keeping their sidewalks clear of garbage.

Playing at the Clova from January 21 to January 27 2011

This week starting on Friday January 21 to the 27th, the Clova is playing:

7pm - Little Fockers

8:55pm - The Tourist

Last show lets out at 10:40pm. Admission is $8 or $15 for 2 people. Add another $4 for each extra person in the group.

Clover Creek BBQ Pit rarely open?

I've walked past the Clover Creek BBQ Pit several times during the past couple of weeks during the afternoon when its supposed to be open. Its always closed. Much like its predecessor Rico Burrito.

In December I walked past a few times and there was stuff stored inside: a bench, boxes, construction type material. That stuff is no longer sitting inside the restaurant.

It's interesting in sort of a weird way. Its like the restaurant won't shut its doors for good but its rarely open. What kind of business sense is this? Something I'll never understand that's for sure.

Christmas decorations in Cloverdale partially down

I was surprised last week that some of the Christmas decorations on 176th Street in downtown Cloverdale have gone. Namely the 2 red light banners with the stars on both ends at 58th Avenue and 56A Avenue. Also the flag banners of the stars have been replaced by the Cloverdale themed flags. The wreaths in Hawthorne Square are gone.

So they're getting to it a lot faster than last year when the Christmas decorations stayed up until April when a film crew was shooting some scenes and the city had to finally get them down.

The lights are still up on the Christmas trees. That would be the multicolored lights on the trees near the ambulance station on 58A Avenue and the white lights on the trees on 176th Street. Actually the white lights don't look so bad. Several cities have similar lights up year round.

Playing at the Clova from January 14 to January 20 2011

Playing at the Clova in Cloverdale this week starting Friday January 14 to 20 is:

7pm - The Tourist

9pm - Unstoppable

Last show lets out at 10:40pm. Admission is $8. $15 for 2 people. Add an extra $4 for each extra person in your party.

Bins finally removed

Further to those charitable bins sitting in the northwest corner of the Cloverdale Mall parking lot, we noticed one of them was gone a couple of weeks ago. That didn't stop the trash from piling up. Then a week ago we noticed the other clothing bin was gone, leaving only the books for charity bin. Two days ago that was gone.

Hopefully with those bins gone the people dropping off their trash will stop showing up at night to drop off their junk. I mean these are clothing bins with a small drawer to drop them in. What are you people doing dropping off chairs and couches? They don't fit in the bin. They sit out in the rain and get even more destroyed.

Haul my junk away for free.

Playing at the Clova from January 7 to January 13 2011

Playing this week at the Clova from January 7 to 13:

7pm - How Do you Know

9:15pm - Love & Other Drugs

Last show lets out around 11:20pm. Admission is $8. Or $15 for 2 people. Add $4 for each additional person in your group.

Outdoor Skating

Yesterday I saw 2 makeshift outside skating rinks. The first one I passed was on the Serpentine Fenn on the King George Highway next to Art Knapps. This was actually a real pain. I was heading north and traffic was crawling bumper to bumper from the Highway 99 ramp to Colebrook Road turn off. Cars were parked all up and down the highway on both sides of the highway with people dashing across the traffic.

The second spot wasn't so bad. Best described as the Bose farm its on 64th Avenue at the bottom of the hill heading up towards 168th Street. The field was flooded and people were skating on it. The cars parked at the side of the road weren't as much of a hazard as they were at Serpentine Fenn on King George Highway.

When I was younger we used to ice skate on the ice at Fry's Corner. The fields flooded over and froze and people parked at the side of the road on 176th Street or Fraser Highway. When I was attending Cloverdale Junior High they chartered some school buses and took a bunch of us down there to go skating. Of course ice skating on fields is not too dangerous. Well there might be some debris like swamp grass or trees or sticks or logs to keep an eye on but if the ice is thin the worst thing that will happen is you'll fall through and maby get wet up to your ankle or shin. Uncomfortable but not life threatening.

Today when I drove by Serpentine Fenn its a little warmer today and I can see water gathering on the ice as it melts. Again this area is not going to cause death if you sink through the ice unless you're only about a foot tall. There were a few people out there skating. Even last night when I drove past there was a couple of cars parked there with the headlights on and I saw 2 people skating.

I no longer own ice skates and I doubt that I would be enticed enough to skate at night but somebody must be out there having a good time.

Playing at the Clova from January 1 to January 6 2011

The Clova was closed yesterday (New Year's Eve) so playing from today January 1 until January 6 is:

7pm - Burlesque

9:15pm - The Next Three Days

Last show lets out at 11:35pm. Admission is $8 or 2 for $15. Add $4 for each extra person in your party.