The General Manager of Community Services notes that this report requests Council to make a tradeoff between two sets of objectives. On the one hand are cost to City taxpayers and general conservation of the environment through energy savings. On the other hand are area ambiance and heritage authenticity. The savings in costs and the benefits to the general environment are undisputed.
Ambiance is largely a matter of taste, and authenticity is arguable.
While the Gastown-style lamp standards are historically accurate of the dominant period represented in Gastown, they were never actually used in Gastown itself until its contemporary restoration. Further, contemporary incandescent light bulbs do not replicate the colour temperature of the carbon filament bulbs used during the historical Gastown era. Both public and private restorations involve degrees of authenticity and full replication is seldom, if ever achieved. The purpose of this report is to present the results of the Gastown Lighting survey conducted on the affected property owners and to seek Council approval to proceed with converting the lights to a warm white fluorescent source. As outlined in the March 28,1996 report to Council, this cut can be achieved by either converting the lighting to an alternate light source, or by property owners funding the difference in electricity costs to retain the incandescent lighting.