The seismic instability of land along False Creek could increase the costs of a new Vancouver Art Gallery by up to 10 percent, according to an engineering expert. On May 16, Premier Gordon Campbell announced that land at the Plaza of Nations was being offered to the VAG to build a new, larger facility. Six months before the surprise announcement, the VAG went public with plans to relocate to the former bus-depot site behind the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, at the intersection of Cambie and West Georgia streets. When the False Creek land became available, the gallery set about rejigging its plans.

Peter Byrne, professor emeritus of civil engineering at UBC, told the Straight the land at False Creek would require more work than the bus-depot site in order to solidify the ground as a base for building. “The downtown core is strong soil and not too far to go down to rock,” he said. “As you go up against the water”¦that’s when you run into those softer soils.”¦Basically, the rule in Vancouver is the high ground is the good ground, from the earthquake point of view, and the flat low-lying ground is the bad ground.”

Byrne estimated that the cost of building on soft soil would be about five to 10 percent of the overall construction costs of the building. Should the VAG want to build an unusually shaped structure, that would drive up costs further, he added.

“They can do it; it’s just a matter of money,” he said. “It would cost you more than trying to put it on good, firm ground.”

Garry Rogers, a seismologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, told the Straight the soft soil at False Creek means that the potential for shaking during a quake is greater in the area. “There are rules in the building code to deal with the soft situation,” he said. He emphasized that soft ground doesn’t mean the building itself, once constructed, will be unsafe.

“It just means the buildings are going to cost more than if you built them somewhere else,” he said. “They won’t represent any more risk to the people that are in them or the owners of them when they’re completed.”

Andrew Riley, a VAG spokesperson, said plans for the new gallery are at a preliminary stage, and that it is too early for anyone at the gallery to discuss the issue.