Eve Lazarus
Last chance to try and snag a brick or two before the 1911 Henry Hudson Elementary School in Kitsilano is just a distant memory. Demolition of the red brick building started Thursday.
The Namesake:
Since it’s out with the old, I’m wondering if a name change was considered for the new school?
Wanted! The Provincial government is looking for a home for several tons of black marble, currently residing in a Coquitlam storage facility.
The marble is about 12 feet high and roughly six feet wide, and that’s all there is left from Vancouver’s Centennial fountain that first sat outside the former Vancouver courthouse in 1966.
I thought I’d end the year with a fun little story from my book Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History. Thanks for following my sporadic posts this year and here’s to surviving 2025. Happy New Year!
At 6:00 am on Sunday January 1, 1922, Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island switched from driving on the left side of the road to driving on the right, and thus became one of the last areas in Canada to change over.
The Bridge:
I love the Yarrawonga Mulwala bridge. It’s flawed and quirky and it turned one hundred this weekend. The anniversary celebrations were at the lake this morning, where temperatures were already well into the 30s by 11:00 am.
And even in the absence of King Charles (he sent his regrets) and Australian Prime Minister Albanese (who probably didn’t), the anniversary had a huge turnout.
I’m excited to tell you that my new book—Beneath Dark Waters: The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck is finished and will be on book shelves in April.
In August 2019, I was sitting on a Zodiac in the middle of the St. Lawrence River piloted by a French Canadian marine biologist.
I’ve been to Jericho Beach dozens of times over the years and often bike along the path that snakes through Spanish Banks, Jericho and spits out onto Point Grey Road. It wasn’t until recently that I found out the area was once part of the largest military training base in Western Canada.
Flying Boats:
The base was built for flying boats and seaplanes in 1920 and included four large hangars and a military storage building.
Deidre Keohane (Deirdriu Ni Cheochain) moved into the Birkdale Apartments on West Broadway with her boyfriend Marty Lacroix in 1980.
Birkdale Apartments:
The Birkdale Apartments first appears in the city directories in 1922, and at some point became the Burkdale Apartments on the front of the building. Not long after moving in, 22-year-old Deidre, an art school grad and Marty, a dancer with Paula Ross, took a can of spray paint to the name, replacing Burk with Rat and the Ratdale was born.
One of my favourite parts about writing this blog is getting comments from people that add to the story, and often take it in a whole new and unexpected direction. I get really excited when someone sends me a 100-year-old postcard or a photo of Vancouver that’s never been seen outside the family album.
Maria Brunskog saw my story on the Wigwam Inn at Indian Arm and sent me this postcard.
