Do the tiled pile of bricks and cedar planks at UBC’s Gage Tower hold human remains, or are they leftovers from a six-decade-old childhood prank?
Last week I wrote about the two graves near UBC’s Gage Towers. Gregg Doughty first heard about the graves when he started with the university in 1991. Various UBC officials were aware of them, speculating that they could house the remains of Japanese, Chinese or Indigenous people dating back to the early 1900s. Frustrated that his efforts to find out the names of the people buried there have gone unanswered, Gregg wanted to solve the mystery before he retires.
New information:
After I published last week’s blog, Sandra Walton left this comment on the post: “Hi Eve, These are not “graves.” My husband and a friend created this “shrine” in the early 1960s when they were high-school students at University Hill. I have sent your blog to the instigator, who may, or may not get back to you. He became a highly regarded UBC Prof… I think they would like it to remain a mystery!”
I wasn’t convinced. Several highly placed UBC staffers believed that they were graves and they were clearly marked on construction plans in 1984 with instructions to add cedar planks. The red tiles had also been added later. It was just something that nobody talked about. As retired UBC engineer and planner, David Grigg told me: “We never made any big fuss about it.”
I’ve since spoken to Sandra who says that up until 10 years ago, neither she, her husband or the retired professor were aware that the structure had survived. Until my blog last week, they had no idea that people thought it held human remains.
Childhood Prank?
The prof refused to talk to me, but he contacted a UBC staffer this week and told my source (who also doesn’t want to be named) that he and his friend were practicing their construction skills by pouring concrete and laying tiles and bricks. “It doesn’t sound like it was even meant as a prank, just something to do,” says my source. “At the time, they didn’t think that their work would last more than a few years.”
Megan Stuart-Stubbs and her friend John often played near the old station in the late 1960s. They built a fort on a well-used trail off Westbrook Mall, behind what she thinks of as a shrine. She remembers two bricked surfaces covered in blue and white glazed tiles and set a few inches below ground level which had writing—perhaps Chinese or Greek (they were little kids). There was also a vertical addition that looked like an altar, she says. “We assumed it had been bulldozed with the building,” says Megan. “Neither of us ever thought for a moment back then or since that they were graves.”
If true, then the university has been protecting some old bricks, 1970s tiles, and a pile of dirt for over 60 years. I’d like to use ground penetrating radar to find out for sure. If there are no human remains buried at Gage, let’s bulldoze these decrepit bricks and tiles back to nature. If GPR turns up otherwise, then that’s an entirely different conversation.
Related:
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7 comments on “The Mysterious Graves at UBC’s Gage Towers – Part 2”
I am fairly certain UBC Anthropology/Archaeology has a ground penetrating radar system. A quick field trip to the nearby ‘site’ might help answer what these enigmatic features are.
I’ve heard they have and I couldn’t agree more!
Whatever the outcome, I am heartened to know that folks’ intentions have been to do the right thing (honour and not disturb remains).
Please do the GPR. Those who refuse to be named, sound very “Sus”. There are red flags all over their replies.
Well it will either be replaced or researched so there’s no reason not to just dig it up now.
[…] see Part 2: which mostly solves the mystery, and wasn’t what anyone […]
I remember Greg Doughty telling me about these some years ago, but I didn’t have the time or real inclination to take up the cause and get to the bottom of it, so I’m glad Eve you took up the task of delving into this. Now, however, perhaps we’re all just back where we started. The UBC staffers sound genuine enough, that those who developed things afterwards perhaps thought they best leave them untouched in case it was something they were unaware of, or the rumours might have been already floating at the time.
It reminds me of a place that was presumed to the clandestine location of Satanic rituals that was happening in Kerrisdale 35 years ago. But, that, as they say, is another story….