page, Januar) 25,1978-NechSewNowe

‘By and large immigrants ‘settling ina. ‘“‘new’’
country like ‘Canada—and, . “more - ‘specifically,
British Columbia—are pretty unsentimental about |
the past. Often, . in fact; the ‘past is. ‘something
they’d just as soon forget—otherwise they’d never:
have bought that one-way ticket from their
homeland in the first place. The ever-beckoning
years ahead are the basic reason why they’re here, .
and. “building for the future” becomes their

“District and ‘maybe. six to-
eight- in: West_ Vancouver. |
But you have to make.a start — |
-with history somewhere. .
‘Once. the idea takes root, the
‘number of heritage buildings
and sites will obviously grow
with ‘the passing. years, just
as has ‘happened in ‘the old
world ‘over the. centuries. on

i

‘MOMENT HAS ARRIVED

constant watchword.

The newer. the area in

terms of development, the |
stronger this attitude is, of |
course. Vancouver itself has .
been in business for barely a —

century.. And on the North
Shore...apart _ from North
Vancouver’s early . sawmill
community of Moodyville....
practically ali the. action

worth speaking © af has takan

piace since the end of the. os

first World War.

in a community such as

ours “building for the
future’? has, nine times out
of ten, a quite literal

meaning.It’s. primarily the
job of. an ever-expanding
construction industry spur-

red on {at any f rate until the

last year ot two) by an.
ever-increasing population.

The continuing ptéoceupa |

tion is with new subdivisions,
rises, new industrial Sites, .
new schools, new roads and

bridges and sewers and.

shopping centres.
CARPENTRY ,CONCE

The word “‘new’’, a
becomes part and parcel of
our constant dream of ‘‘the
future’’.and once.a construc-
tion industry, with its tens of

. thousands of skilled crafts-
men, has been geared up to
creating something out of
nothing...fast...it: inevitably.

begins to feed on itself. It
must continue to be given —

new projects. regardless of

_ whether they are immediate- .

ly necessary, or large sectors
of the economy will suffer.

We are essentially a
carpentry and concrete-mix
er civilization.

So ‘“‘new’® and ‘‘the
future’? come to mean not

-

| Our history t to date i is much |

shorter, adimitiedly,. that that

emaeee ,

- of Britain or Europe, the U.S. |
or even eastern Canada. But
_ it can still help us quite a lot
‘in our quest for the kind of

future that we, our parents or

cour grandnarents came here
: to seek.

> Therein lies the signific-
ance of an event that took

place last- ‘Thursday: the first.

rt on
meeting o orthe newly formed —

North Shore-Heritage Advis-

ory Committee.

” ‘It was attended by North

. Vancover Disirict Mayor Don
Rell

teagether with senior

eve

Civic and community repres-

only building where nothing

existed before. Today, they
also come to mean quite
often, bulldozing perfectly
sound buildings perhaps as
little as 20-30 years old into
rubble in order to replace
them with more ‘‘modern’’
elaborate and costly struc-
tures. Whatever else hap-
pens, there must be no halt
in our relentless march
toward ‘‘the future’’.

The only snag about this
familiar British Columbian...
and North Shore...syndrome
is that no worthwhile society
in history has ever survived
on an exclusive addiction to
the things of tomorrow,
accompanied by a_ total
disregard for the things of
yesterday,

The simple truth is that
most of us are shaped by our
past at least as much as by
our dreams for the future.
Even a community as comp-
aratively young as that of the
North Shore already. has
much of ongoing value
invested in its achievements
over the past 60-70 years.
The profitable bottom line is
not always something we
have to wait for. It may
already have been written if
only we'd pause to look for it.

t

entatives eth

City and West Vancouver.
immediate objective is ‘to
save those historic buildings

that we siill have on ithe |

North Shore from the devel-

oper and the wrecker, and to —

ensure that they are preserv-
ed for posterity.

So far, alas, there aren’t
too many of them...17 or ‘18

in the Lower Lonsdale area.

of North Vancouver, § a

handful .in what were once.

the farmlands of North Van

wes, See

‘it’s an idea whose moment
-has arrived on the North.

from North Yan -

; “Heading the committee is
- librarian-archivist Ast Dav--

-ies,. a former North Shore

News columnist. For openers |
he has proposed (with Mayor. _ .
Béll’s. support) that all three |
North Shore. municipalities :

‘collaborate © in. passing a
common heritiage bylaw. .

Meanwhile, - “West | -

already . ‘formed.

aws asaw

its - own

“Gordon: Cross has recom-

_ Mear Van |
Recreation Commission has —

historic sites sub-committee...
North Van City Alderman —

‘mended. an interim grant of |

$100 from. each ‘municinality.

Ee

There’s talk of a future North
Van version of Burnaby’ s
Heritage Village. - ee

Modest beginnings, " may-
‘be, but I have a hunch that

Shore. | As more and more
.Guestion-marks surround tne
future there is evidence on

many hands of increasing

interest in what has gone.
‘bef ‘ore...possibl y a subcon-
scious search for guidance in

dealing with what i is to come. |

Victoria, Bavke: ville end
Gastown are familiar cases in

‘point. So is the highly
successful Royal Hudson

excursion train and’ the

i venerable old church now.

‘ transformed into North Van-
couver’s Presentation House

not to mention this year’s

Captain Cook celebrations.
All of them history ‘Brought
alive once more. —

comimvinne on PAGE 10

-

re, ete ies {penny etn ste

——

Ee

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