Sunday, June 9, 1991 — North Shore News - 33

Tellmg the North Shore shipbuilding story

IF YOU’RE under the age of 30 the word ‘‘shipbuilding”’
probably makes you think of a grown man laboring over a

tiny balsa wood model of the The Beagle.

In that case, you've missed the
boat on a major part of the North
Shore's history.

Picture, instead, thousands of
workers laboring over the hulking
shape of an American aircraft
carrier at the foot of Lonsdale
Avenue, circa 1940, or a worker
poised with a rivet catcher ready
to catch the rivei tossed fresh out
of the forge. Shipbuilding, in fact,
has played a major role in the
North Shore's economy and _ in-
dustry.

And Versatile Pacific Shipyards,
formerly Burrard Dry Dock Co.

NORTH SHORE Museum curator John Stuart displays an old shipyard time clack. The museum is

By Barbara Black
News Reporter

Ltd., and before that Wallace
Shipyards, will be the subject of
an upcoming display at the North
Shore Museum and = Archives,
thanks to help from you.

The North Shore Museum and
Archives is hoping that, tucked
away in North Shore attics and
basements, are articles that will
help tell the story of these ship-
yards -—- who worked there, what

currently looking for items relating to the shipbuiiding indusiry.

SUMMER

they wore, what ships they worked
on.

Says John Stuart, museum cu-
rator, ‘‘We're looking for any-
thing to do with the operation of
the shipyard and its employees.
The condition of artifacts is not
necessarily iniportant, as it may
provide an important link.’’

Donations can be loaned or do-
nated to the display, which is
slated for the end of June. Arti-
cles might include: clothing such
as uniforms, boiler suits or caps;
equipment; photos taken inside
the yards of people working, of
ships launched or on_ sea trials;
advertising for the shipyards; or
materials dealing with the war ef-
forts.

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44 Orice employing 20,000
workers, Burrard became well-
known after its successful bid
on the luxury coastal steamer,

the Princess Louise. 99

Articles can be related to any of
the three shipyards.

The shipyard began as Wallace
Shipyards when Alfred Wallace
moved his business from False
Creek over to Lower Lonsdale.
Museum curator John Stuart
remarks that such a move ‘‘must
have been a welcome addition to
the North Shore economy.’”

The yard later changed its name
to Burrard Dry Dock Co. Lid. in
the 1920s and was a significant
shipbuilder during the Second
World War when ships were con-
verted to wartime use.

Once employing 20,000
workers, Burrard became wellt-
known after its successful bid on
the luxury coastal steamer, the
Princess Louise.

Stuart says the museum hopes
to attain a half-model of the

Princess Louise as part of the
display.

“And there’s also apparently a
model of the St. Roch (B.C.
Police ship that sailed the Nor-
thwest Passage), which was built
at the yard, that we’re working on
getting,’’ says Stuari,

The site is now known as Ver-
satile Pacific Shipyards Inc. and
its glory days seem to be fading
into the past as the shipbuilding
industry falters here on the West
Coast,

Stuart says the museum chose
the display ‘‘because it’s in the
news,’ and he believes museums
must make an effort to be rele-
vant to the community.

If you have anything that per-
tains to the Wallace/Burrard/
Versatile shipyards phone John
Stuart at 987-5618.

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