The PNE prize home in 1957. Courtesy Vancouver Archives
1957:
In 1957, things were a lot less complicated. People went out to movies and drank Nescafe in the kitchen. The prize home, at 1,444 square feet, was one and a half times the size of a normal house. It was a single-storey, boxy, early Ranch style house.
It was also less than half the size of recent prize homes.
Moved to Burnaby:
The 1957 house was moved to, and remains at, 6517 Lougheed Highway in Burnaby. It originally sat on a concrete pad, but owners have since added a basement, bringing the total square footage to a little over 2,400. In 2021 it’s assessed at over a million.
Courtesy BC Assessment
Contrast that with this year’s PNE prize home. Valued at $1.8 million (including extras) and located in South Surrey.
It has 3,600 sq.ft. spread across three levels and includes a home gym, media room inside and a hot tub and “outdoor living package” in the backyard. Seriously, you’ll never have to leave the house.
Also please note that the PNE prize home is not actually at the PNE this year, you have to go to South Surrey to try and find it. For more information see the PNE prize home website
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all blog content copyright Eve Lazarus.
The Livestock Building at Hastings Park. Eve Lazarus photo 2010
Hastings Park:
The Livestock Building at Hastings Park is a rundown old concrete warehouse full of peeling paint, boarded up and broken windows. The back is just as neglected, but painted red from a film shoot some years ago. Most of us know it from taking our kids to see the petting zoo, the pig races and Big Bob at the annual Pacific National Exhibition. And, while it’s in desperate need of a face lift, the building has got both architectural merit and a really interesting social history.
The Forum was the men’s building K. CVA photo 1942 180-3541
Internment:
The first part of the building went up in 1929, and then in the ‘40s architectural firm McCarter Nairne turned it into a much larger Streamline Moderne building—the same firm that designed the amazing art deco Marine Building on Burrard.
Most important though is the building serves as a reminder of the injustice suffered by 22,000 Japanese-Canadians during WW2. From March to September, 1942 you would have found more than 3,100 women and children at different times living in deplorable conditions in the animal stalls at the western end of this three-acre large building. The eastern section housed a hospital, kitchen and dining area. The men–mostly fishers and miners and merchants and foresters were housed in the Pure Food Building.
The Hastings Park buildings used to contain the Japanese during the war – 1942-1945. Photo CVA 180-3506
PNE buildings:
All told there were at least 10 of the PNE buildings used to house the Japanese Canadians in disgusting conditions. Most of the buildings are long gone, but as well as the Livestock building, Rollerland, the Forum, the Garden Auditorium and the race track were all used at some point to contain the Japanese before they were shipped off to internment camps.
These “enemy aliens”–many who were born in Canada–were wrenched from their homes and sent to live here before being forcibly relocated to internment camps in places like Slocan, BC.
Wander through the Momiji Gardens and you’ll find a faded plaque secured to a rock telling some of the story.
Muriel Fujiwara Kitagawa described the Japanese women’s dormitory: “The whole place is impregnated with the smell of ancient manure and maggots. Every other day it is swept with dichlorine of lime, or something, but you can’t disguise horse smell, cow smell, sheep, pigs, rabbits and goats…there are 10 showers for 1,500 women.”
Courtesy Vancouver Heritage Foundation
Back in 1997 when it looked like the PNE and Playland would move somewhere else, the Garden Auditorium (1940), the PNE Forum (1933), the iconic wooden rollercoaster (early 1930s) and the Livestock Building were all under threat of demolition. A decision to keep the PNE where it is gave these structures a reprieve.
According to Dave Hutch, project manager, the City of Vancouver is currently assessing the Livestock Building before recommending that it be added to the Vancouver Heritage Register. Hutch, says based on the research so far, the building will likely qualify for an A Status, which at the very least should help the former marshalling facility get the maintenance it badly needs to prolong its life.
