Notes From November Meeting

We had a very large turnout for last Thursday’s Grandview Heritage Group monthly meeting. So many in fact we have begun to think about alternate locations; but we’ll let that lie until the new year.  Welcome one and all!  Again, as usual, we had a wide-ranging discussion.

• Michael gave a presentation on basements. Typical early Vancouver housing styles had a residence above an at-grade crawl space. This led to fully designed basements. He showed some 1961 design ideas for basements. He also discussed the securing of heritage homes to foundations.
• Eric then gave the latest in his ongoing series Mechanics and Materials. This month’s subject was manufactured wood. He presented on plywood, hardwood, Beaver Board, and Glulam.
• Jak previewed the December 1st release of the GV Database. Almost a thousand new data points have been entered since the ortiginal release.
• Penny outlined her idea for rewarding new buyers in Grandview who decide not to demolish a heritage house. This led to a brief discussion on rezoning the RT zone to better defend against demolitions.
• Michael discussed the current state of the City’s Heritage Action Plan.  He noted there seems to be no appetite at City Hall to create further Heritage Conservation Areas like First Shaughnessy. He also presented on the change to heritage evaluation criteria, moving to a “value based” approach.
• The Shelly’s Bakery Plaque: Penny discussed the history of the sign and the plaque. The replacement plaque is fading rapidly already and needs to be replaced.  Still thinking of alternatives.
• 2016 Student Intern: Michael discussed the history of our encounters with GEOG 429 students over the last few years, culminating in Kevin Shackle’s excellent work on Grocery Stores. We have been offered a student for 2016. It was agreed we would say yes. Penny, Michael and Jak will work on suggested topics.  Some of the ideas offered at the meeting were: basement history. barners and beauty shops, dairies, the shift from stables to garages, older apartment buildings, the range of “party hat” decoration.
• Next meeting wlll be 21 January 2016.