Let’s head back to October 1975 when a Ladner Village business owner said they wanted to do their own mini urban renewal.
During a time when city council was debating a proposed Ladner renewal scheme, Arnie Koroscil, owner of the Big-0 tire store at 48th Avenue and Bridge Street, took six months of back-breaking work to completely renovate the 30-year-old building.
“I decided to go ahead and do a little urban renewal on my own,” he told the Optimist.
Having spent over $6,000 in renovations, Koroscil, 37, bought the building earlier that year. It was previously owned for 28 years by Jack Fogg Motors Ltd.
Koroscil described his business as most of the time being a ‘one-man operation’ but that was fine.
“Half the time I would be up on a ladder and have to climb down again to serve a customer,” he quipped.
