Notes From The June Meeting

The GHG had another interesting meeting last night, covering a wide range of topics:

• We discussed arrangements for the plaque to be placed at 1350 Graveley to recognise it as the oldest still-extant house in Grandview. The unveiling will take place near the end of July (date to be confirmed) when a number of the original owners’ family will be present. Dates and final details to be confirmed in early July to allow for notification of the event;
• Eric took us through this month’s Neighbourhood Review which included a look at the work moving swiftly ahead at both the new Bosa store on Victoria and Brookhouse on Parker, stone wall repair on Lakewood, and the history of Robertson Church on Salsbury. These discussions also allowed us to look into the costs of “legalizing” a suite in an older building, the costs associated with that, and a review of various BC MIlls (and similar “packaged”) houses;
• Plans for GHG participation at Commercial Drive’s No Car Day on 9th July were discussed.  We have a table and will display various maps of Grandview’s growth, some early real estate ads and, hopefully, we will have access to the Grandview Database to allow passers-by to check the history of their houses. More GHG business cards and flyers will be prepared;
• Eric also took us through a number of upcoming events, such as Maurice Guibord’s walking tours, VHS activities, and Heritage Vancouver’s Top Ten Endangered Sites tour;
• We then looked at the new development application for a 10-storey tower at 11th and Victoria which, they claim, will include preservation of a single “heritage” house on the site;
• Nigel raised the idea — available in Europe, apparently — that people could step in, through some form of legal arrangement, to assist heritage home owners who are unable or unwilling to maintain their properties. He noted that we already lose a lot of heritage homes through development and demolition, and it is a shame to lose others simply through neglect;
• Eric showed a video about home to build porch (and similar) concrete piers;
• We finished the evening with a lively discussion about preservation of heritage interiors. John had taken the New Westminster Heritage Tour this spring and noticed that some houses had done this,while many others — including many in Grandview — had preserved the exterior and form, but stripped out the interior. There was a back-and-forth debate about how far can heritage preservation actually go (do we really want an Edwardian kitchen, for example?).

Another excellent evening of fascinating talks.