We had about twenty people at our meeting last night, with a couple of new visitors. I don’t think anyone was disappointed with all that we managed to cover in a couple of hours.
- Michael Kluckner gave a detailed and excellent illustrated talk that led us through the history of heritage legislation and regulation in Vancouver, starting with the first Heritage By-law (which has its 40th anniversary this year), which was a result of the controversial Birks Building demolition. He then segued into a review of the various housing styles that we can find in Grandview, focusing on the change from a front porch-based culture to one that prefers more privacy in backyards and courtyards.
- Michael’s talk was by way of a primer for our 2014 Centenary House signs project walk on Sunday. We will meet at the Britannia library at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday 23rd March. We will cover the area west and south of Britannia. Everyone is welcome to join us.
- We noted that Stephanie Chang, the UBC Historical Geography (GEOG 429) student who has been wortking with us, will present her paper next Tuesday. Michael and Jak are planning to go.
- We discussed the situation regarding Brookhouse, 1872 Parker. The news does not seem good, and we may well lose this house to demolition very soon.
- The meeting that several of us had with the Agnew family was described, and led to an interesting discussion about the value of family papers and photographs.
- Jak and Bruce described the $25,000 New Horizons grant that has now been received and is to be managed by VCN. The purpose of the project is to collect as many seniors’ stories as we can. Interviews should begin in April.
- Last, and certainly not least, Eric Phillips gave us a teaser about the new edition of his series, Heritage Mechanicals and Materials, that he will present at our meeting next month. The subject is Glass. He brought along a number of examples of stained glass and beveled plate, and then encouraged our attendance next month with some fascinating illustrations about the history of glass.
Another great meeting; I think we are really getting into our stride now.
grandviewheritagegroup.ca 
What heritage sites, other than structures, exist in Grandview Woodlands? Do we have any parks, trees, playgrounds, etc. that could be considered to qualify as (however we define the term) heritage? A couple of years ago the Britannia Garden Tour included a private property in the 3rd. Ave and Templeton area which has a “long-standing” tree in its front garden. Perhaps there are others that might interest heritage buffs. What brought this idea to mind is a reminder of the Cambie Heritage Boulevard, designated by the City in 1993 as a heritage site. The next question to ask then, I suppose, is what constitutes a site. Any ideas?
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Hi, Thanks for you email reply. I wasn’t thinking of just public sites though the link to the City website is very helpful. What I was wondering was whether any forrester or other authority might be able to identify trees etc. in our community that are “historic.” Of course, what is private property now was public land at one time, but both would, no doubt, be interesting.
Also, I was wondering whether there had been any grave sites in our community.
Thanks again for the link, however, because I am pretty busy with my own research and writing just now I will not have much time to check it out. Would anyone else be inclined to do so?
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Thanks a great question about whether there are any grave sites in Grandview. You have to think there were but I have never read or heard of any. The city’s official graveyard Mountain View Cemetery was established in 1887 many years before Grandview, so there probably aren’t any public graves in Grandview.
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sorry, I gave the wrong email. It should be as submitted with this post.
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Oh, I wasn’t thinking of official grave sites…was wondering whether any family histories or other sources might give a hint about “plots.”
Also, official records of trees, while helpful, might not be the only source. As I mentioned, a forester, for example, would be able to date a tree — such as the one on 3rd Ave. and Templeton that I mentioned. Possibly, there are others. Two years ago some residents of 5th Ave. “persuaded” the City not to fell trees that line their block, and I understood that their reason for doing so was that these had historical value for these residents (again, however we define “historic”).
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