16x9 | Ghost Town: Canadian community abandoned 30 years ago

you may think that dessert at ghost towns exists only in those cheesy western movies but there's a special place in DC that would make even John Wayne proud our Carolyn Jarvis tonight with a story about a Canadian man and his burning ambition to bring this town back to life in the rain shadow of the Pacific coast lie both a mystery and a hidden gem a town built on a foundation of promise and prosperity that never delivered on either for nearly 30 years it sat empty a ghost town called KITT salt to get there is a journey in and of itself from Terrace BC you have to drive along a rugged gravel road heading so far north the Alaskan border is closer than the nearest town after three hours you'll come to the end of a deep sea floor and nestled on its banks is kit salt there is everything here 94 homes 200 apartments a hospital a mall a community center the only thing missing are the people the town was built in the late 1970s to house workers from the nearby molybdenum mine kit salt was to be state-of-the-art and no detail was spared there was a curling rink where the workers would unwind after a hard week at the mine the maple leaf pub next door where the party undoubtedly spilled over the local shopping center grocery store the Royal Bank and the Town & Country restaurants at its height 1200 people lived here but only 18 months after it opened molybdenum prices crashed and the mine shut down by the end of 1983 the town that hundreds had built their dreams on was empty but after the mine closed in the people left the power here was left on and for 30 years the town just sat waiting for the people to return it wasn't until a September morning in 2004 the kids alts fortune was to change the town had been put up for sale and Virginia businessman Krishna and Suzanne Thoren came across an article in the newspaper he decided kid salt would be his sight unseen I can imagine a couple hundred people just living in the town for a week and enjoying the top Krish the son of a grocery in southern India he went to university in Ottawa and made his millions by building an empire of medical companies and selling real estate when I go to a conference the first thing they'll ask me is that house kids are doing and I said you know you don't ask me how I'm doing me how businesses for the town he paid seven million dollars cash and began its resurrection by hiring a modest crew but as one could imagine the to-do list when you're revamping an entire town is immense one day clearing a road the next sanding and repainting this is a rec center and center of our town I would say Matthew cazuca cartel is the town's manager look here what do we have look at that yep we have the main pool we have a jacuzzi despite the amazement of it all it's hard not to feel a sense of emptiness in this place everything is as it was three decades ago frozen in time many of the houses still have the 1970s decor in the hospital the x-ray gloves still lie on the table right beside a full-fledged operating room with the cupboard still stocked everything is still here that's right it's because people here were literally told they had to go overnight please leave we'll pay you back everything and a few people had to be evicted forcefully the cops had to come in because they said no we are not moving the wildlife is perhaps the one thing that hasn't changed you're more likely to see a bear sauntering through these streets than anything else and there is curious as anyone to know what is to become of this oceanfront relic I wanted to create a unique atmosphere for about 200 to 400 scientists and engineers and artists a veritable shangri-la where hand-picked artists and scientists will become stewards of the community we want to give you the total freedom in living in an area that is so beautiful that you can focus your mind he's already put in 10 million dollars and figures it will take 10 million more but for a man with 70 corporations to his name this isn't about making money once the houses are done we're gonna furnish it fully each bedroom will be furnished this town he says is about giving back by the summer of 2011 he hopes to have it open but in a twist of irony the mind that brought kit salt to its knees is once again beginning to rumble molybdenum prices have rebounded and the mines new owner is exploring the possibility of reopening it still Krish isn't interested in any profit that might bring he says that people need to come here to take in the beauty and he adds jokingly the good water pressure the water pressure is so good there [Music]

Channel: Crime Beat TV

Views: 3,841,517

Rating: 4.7661262 out of 5

Keywords: 16x9, 16 x 9, 16 by 9, 16:9, The Bigger Picture, Ghost, Town, Abandoned, Canada, Spooky, Kitsault, Heaven on Earth, British Columbia

Id: SX2MvCnyRTo

Length: 5min 48sec (348 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 30 2012

Reddit Comments

[u/externalseptember]

I'm pretty sure he wants to use the port for exporting oil and gas and used the intellectual retreat thing as a cover story to get the place on the cheap.

[u/[deleted]]

Alright, i would like to set some things straight. i grew up spending my summers directly across the bay from this town in an older town called Alice Arm where many people still have summer homes. This town, Kitsult, is where my parents met and fell in love, it is where i learned to fish, and it is currently under risk of being turned into an LNG plant.

It is true that the man who bought this town, an extremely wealthy american originally told people that he was intending to turn it into a sanctuary for great minds and a fantastic place for people to come and exsperience nature. However, he is a buisness man, and that is not a lucrative investment for him. an LNG plant, which would greatly harm some of the most pristine wilderness on the coast of British Columbia has recently been announced. here is the link to their website where they state it outright. http://www.kitsault.com/

I am not opposed to developing the land through which my family and many others have an easement to access our land. I would have nothing wrong if this man and his employees remained respectful of people that have lived and worked in this area for extremely substantial amounts of their lives. But this is not the case. My family, and many other people that own property in Alice Arm (which can only be accessed through Kitsult) have been harrassed repeatedly by the people who work at Kitsult, even though we were following all of their rules.

Yes, it would be awesome to own this town where there are houses that look as if people just simply didnt return. it is an amazing place, i have grown up knowing its layout better then i do that of my own home town, but this man has not chosen to continue with his original plan. he has lost the trust and respect of all the locals and will not ever gain it back.

sorry for the wall of text.

[u/laide234]

And this is how most horror movies start...

[u/SixPooLinc]

Eureka!

[u/Slicktoxic]

I worked as a mover when the mine was shutting down. Made 3 trips up there.

[u/kwajguy]

Here's the website for the new town: http://www.kitsault.com/

[u/wambowill]

That sounds like a town of only squidwards

[u/glaciator]

I take it Kitsault still isn't open?

[u/SMTRodent]

So why did everyone get kicked out? It sounded like people just left, but then at the end they talk about everyone having to leave overnight, and some being forcefully evicted. So, why?