While residents of New Westminster, B.C. fret over a puzzling “stairway to nowhere” installed on a busy street corner, the city’s mayor insists the $200,000 project will ultimately go somewhere.

“It will not be a staircase to nowhere,” Mayor Jonathan Cote told CTV Vancouver on Tuesday, amid growing outcry over the puzzling staircase.

The detached three-storey metal staircase was put up earlier this spring to serve as a fire escape for a nearby heritage building, after the building’s old route through a nearby parkade was demolished. However, construction was paused on the project before it could be completed, leaving the staircase one crucial step away from being useful. That crucial step just happens to be connecting the stairs to the building they’re meant to serve.

“It’s not money well spent if it doesn’t get you through a practical function,” one area resident told CTV Vancouver.

“If it doesn’t serve a purpose then it’s really of no use, is it?” added another.

Harm Woldring, who runs a craft winery beside the unfinished stairs, says he’s heard plenty of opinions on the matter. Some have labelled it an eyesore and a waste of taxpayer money, while others have mistaken it for an art installation.

“Half the city says it fits in the industrial atmosphere of the street, and the other half are (saying) it’s ugly, and get rid of it,” he told CTV Vancouver.

Woldring says he just wants the project to be completed as soon as possible.

The mayor says the staircase has faced some unexpected challenges, and won’t be finished until some exposed overhead wires are dealt with. He also hinted at opening the stairs up to public artists, in the hopes of making them a little easier on the eyes.

“They were a little bit larger and more visually intrusive than I think many residents and business owners thought, but ultimately they’ve been built to code and there doesn’t appear to be any other viable options,” he said.

With files from CTV Vancouver