My friend does not enjoy outdoor activities, including hiking or skiing or swimming or anything psychical. So far, we would spend three weeks going to the Aquarium, the art gallery, shopping of course, and the Vancouver Museum, although I have to confess I don’t even know where that is. Definitely need to pad the list out a little bit.

Now I love Vancouver – it is a great city to live in, and has a lot to offer many different kinds of people, but there are not a lot of tourist attractions, and while some may say that is a good thing, I feel it is a shame.

I visited what I would call our one tourist attraction a few years ago, and I really enjoyed it. Storyeum was not only an informative, but a fun and exciting way to tell the history of British Columbia. Sadly it closed, and for over a year the site has lain empty; the costumes and sets collecting dust.

Now something needs to be done with the building, and a few ideas are being thrown on to the table – a homeless shelter, a bowling alley, and a 24hr fitness centre.

It is doubtful the council will approve plans for a homeless shelter – it is too expensive and will not create any revenue. I also can’t imagine that there are enough people in Vancouver that are so desperate to bowl that they need an area the size of six NHL regulation ice hockey rinks to do it in, so it’s doubtful that will happen either.

The last option is to turn the entire area into a super gym, and when the world arrives for the Olympics in just over two years, they will be able to see that we Vancouverites are really health conscious, but know nothing about, and don’t seem to care about, the history of our beautiful province. Because the only other place you could go to find out that history is the Vancouver Museum.

The city of Vancouver wants to lease the site to Eco Fitness Ltd. Partnership, which would build said super gym, which would be expected to provide $750,000 a year in revenue for the first five years, as stated in a city report by John Breckner.

The Downtown Eastside Residents Association, who are campaigning for the site to be a homeless shelter, are refusing to comment on the matter yet, merely saying that it would be a good opportunity for the city to address the growing homeless problem.

Vision Councilor Raymond Louie told the Vancouver Sun that the site is more appropriate for commercial uses. “It has been empty for a while,” he said, “and we [need] to ensure we realize some value for our citizens”.

Value? What does he mean by “value”? A fitness centre may provide monetary value, but if we want to do something worthwhile for our city, helping our many homeless find a place to sleep would provide more social value than giving the select few the chance to develop a six-pack.

Storyeum opened in June 2004 at a prominent location in Gastown, and was one of the biggest tourist attractions built since EXPO 86. Due to loss of profits, the attraction staged its final performance in October 2006.

The decision of what the empty lot will now become will be made Tuesday at the council meeting, and no doubt signs for a new state of the art fitness centre will soon be appearing along Water Street.

So I suppose, when my friend does finally come to visit, we’ll either be able to take an aerobics class together, or walk past a construction site on our way to find the Vancouver Museum.

Where is that by the way?