Outstanding Achievement Awards, the highest level of recognition, were presented to:
The Delta Heritage Advisory Commission, for the Delta Heritage Passport
Awards of Honour were presented to:
The City of
The BC
Stantec Architecture and Pastoral Developments Ltd.,
for the
The Ladysmith Maritime Society for the Ladysmith Maritime Museum
Contact: Rick Goodacre, executive director, rgoodacre@heritagebc.ca
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Outstanding
Achievement Award - Eric Pattison Architect and the Salvation Army for:
the B.C. Electric Railway Depot
Project,
On September 21st, 1911, H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, the Governor General of Canada, welcomed the assembled crowd to the official opening of the British Columbia Electric Railway Depot, the new headquarters for the interurban line in the City of New Westminster.
Designed by
Samuel Maclure, one of the province’s most influential early architects,
the new station displayed all the quality and hallmarks of an
increasingly successful business in the growing economic and cultural
centre of the
Almost 100 years later, the building sat all but derelict, unrecognizable after years of renovation and neglect.
By the mid
1950’s and the end of Interurban service, its prominence as a major
transportation centre had dissipated.
The Wosk Brothers purchased the building in 1954 for their
appliance store, the first in a long line of commercial uses.
They hired architect Ross Lort of
When the Salvation Army purchased the former Depot for a retail store in 2006, a decision was required regarding the treatment of the building. Deteriorated timber piles had caused uneven settlement throughout, and many materials from past renovations were now at the end of their service life. However, sufficient heritage fabric and historic documentation survived to prompt rehabilitation of the existing building with careful insertion of a contemporary commercial retail use. The client was able to transfer the Depot’s unused allowable density to an adjacent property in return for funds to offset restoration costs.
The façade was
designated the principal character defining element of the building, the
inaugural year of 1911 was selected as the restoration period, while the
overall project heritage objective was to substantially recall the
original Depot and re-establish its prominence on Columbia Street.
The Conservation Plan included the removal of contemporary metal
cladding, 1950’s stucco, metal windows, storefront and doors, as well as
the large sidewalk canopies.
In order to recall the original massing, reconstruction of the raised
roof parapets at the building corners was required, as well as the
prominent feature bays on
Once
construction began on the facades, some practical considerations
emerged. Along
By returning a building of such notable business and architectural pedigree to a high degree of prominence and respectability, civic identity has been strengthened, street character improved and future heritage conservation work encouraged. The Depot recalls the glory of past grand buildings and great architects and contributes once more to the historic character of the area and the economic activity of the downtown core.
Outstanding
Achievement Award - The Delta Heritage Advisory Commission, for:
The Delta Heritage Passport
The Delta Heritage Advisory Commission published the Delta Heritage Passport, Volume 1, in February of 2007, during Heritage Week. This publication is intended to be the first in a series of guides to Delta’s historic sites. Volume one covers sites that are marked with a plaque or sign, in Delta’s three principal communities: Ladner, North Delta, and Tsawwassen. Most of the plaques date from Delta’s 1979 centennial, while the interpretive signs, sponsored by community groups or the District, are more recent.
For each of
these 19 sites, the passport, published in a pocket-sized format,
includes historic and current photos, a “way-finding” map, and a brief
summary of the site’s historic significance.
Some places are historic buildings, such as
The Commission
continues their work on Delta historic sites, and plans to release
Volume II of the Passport series this year in conjunction with a new
display at the
The Delta Heritage Passport series is available to residents and visitors at the library and community centre locations, municipal hall, and the museum. A digital version is also available on line.
The Delta
Heritage Passport project is a textbook example of a simple but well
conceived and executed project driven by a volunteer group.
The Passport gets the job done, and holds potential for future
expansion and related spin-offs.
It is a practical and very useful tool to help the Commission
fulfill its mandate to increase public awareness and appreciation of
history and heritage, and a real asset for the community.
Award
of Honour - The City of
The Rehabilitation of the Kwinitsa Foreman’s Residence
The City of
The Kwinitsa
Foreman’s Residence was originally located at Kwinitsa, about 40
kilometres to the west of Terrace, half way to
The Kwinitsa Foreman’s Residence itself has also moved about a good deal in its history. Built in the early 1940’s as a residence for railway employees, it was moved to Kwinitsa in the late 1940’s to serve as the Foreman’s Residence. The only known remaining residential railway structure in the Skeena Subdivision, the building is typical of vernacular railway woodframe architecture.
The residence was moved again, this time to Terrace, in 1972 and was used by CN for the next 30 years. CN moved it once again in 1995, to its current Terrace location, and built a new concrete foundation. When CN moved its offices in 2002 and left the building vacant, Richard Rinaldi, the last CN employee to live in the residence, and his daughter, Chantal Meijer, saved it from demolition.
In 2005, the
City of
In 2006, city council established a community heritage register. The Foreman’s Residence was deemed to have heritage value for the community. A project to restore and rehabilitate the structure was begun, and funding secured, including a grant of $21,000 from the Heritage Legacy Fund.
Rehabilitation of the exterior included a new roof, soffit and facia. The original large double hung windows were repaired and conserved. The exterior siding and wood trim was repaired and refinished in the original white and dark green colour scheme.
Inside, the wide-board fir flooring was repaired, stripped, sanded and refinished. Interior walls, casings and mouldings were repaired, reconstructed and painted in historic colours. New front entry doors in a period style, to allow for commercial uses, were installed.
The
rehabilitated Foreman’s Residence, with a new commercial tenant, has now
entered another phase of its life, as a valuable community asset and
heritage resource. It is an
attractive addition to the community’s parks program, and a symbol of
community pride.
Award
of Honour – The BC
The Rehabilitation of
Concentrator No. 3
The twenty-story Concentrator, also known as Mill No. 3, at Britannia Beach, now part of the BC Museum of Mining, had been in decline for decades, and without a major intervention was facing demolition in the near future. Despite its status as a National Historic Site, many in the community considered it an eyesore, offputting to visitors and residents alike. Many were also of the opinion that there were insurmountable obstacles to rehabilitating the enormous industrial structure. In the end, however, it has proved to be a stellar example of how a small organization can find the millions of dollars they need and bring in a major project on time and on budget.
The rehabilitation of the Concentrator building had three primary objectives: to prepare the building for future improvements, to arrest deterioration from weather and acid rock drainage, and to improve the neglected appearance of the building, keeping in mind its industrial character and heritage qualities.
Actions required included repairing damage and deterioration to the concrete and structural steel elements; overlaying the building envelope with new cladding and a new roof; rehabilitating windows on the north side, and replacing windows on the west side. A further step was to link existing perimeter concrete walls by adding new sections to prevent the penetration of acidic water into the building.
The condition of the exterior cladding ranged from fair to extremely poor to missing. The majority of cladding was original and consisted of galvanized steel corrugated panels.
Most of the original cladding was retained as an interior finish and new exterior cladding was placed over it. The new cladding, with a corrugated profile for historical consistency, was 22 gauge steel making it structurally rigid, and able to span great distances.
The museum staff became directly involved in window repair and replacement. By having staff handle this phase of the project, windows could be removed, their condition assessed, the number of new sashes required determined, and reconditioning carried out, all on-site and in a timely manner. In all, the museum crew rehabilitated 650 sashes and crafted 250 new ones in a period of five months.
The exterior roofing was largely asphalt shingles over two-inch tongue and groove decking with some areas of badly deteriorated corrugated galvanized metal. While the metal needed to be stripped off, the majority of the wood decking appeared to be in very good condition, with perhaps five percent requiring complete replacement. In some areas, the decking remained satisfactory, but the tongue had dislodged from the groove and the edge joints had failed, so a plan was put in place.
The new roof material was a corrugated galvanized roofing system installed over the existing roof through the innovation of “hat rack” strapping. The new roof system used plywood for structural rigidity, membrane for waterproofing, with cladding on top.
Funding for the rehabilitation
of Concentrator No 3 came primarily from three sources: one million
dollars from the federal government, one million dollars from the
provincial government, and three million dollars from industry and
private donors including Hallbauer Family Foundation, Hunter Dickinson
Inc, TeckCominco, Gold Corp and Ross Beaty.
The Windows on Howe Sound campaign had more than 350 contributors
and raised $110,000 for the project.
The
rehabilitation of Concentrator No. 3 was an enormous accomplishment for
a small, non-profit organization.
It has taken the BC
Award
of Honour - Stantec Architecture & Pastoral Developments Ltd., for: the
The Monaco, an adaptive re-use project to convert a 19th century commercial block in the heart of Victoria’s Old Town, is recognized for its attention to detail, high quality re-use of an important heritage building, and significant restoration of façade details to recapture its former grandeur.
The E.G. Prior
Building at the corner of Government and Johnson Streets was built in
1882, with a later addition in 1902.
Its heritage value derives from its association with former
Premier and Lieutenant Governor, E.G. Prior, and its prominent
contribution to the physical fabric of
Rehabilitation
of the
A new addition on the roof included four penthouse suites to generate additional revenue to assist with costs of the restoration of some of the original features of the masonry façade. Since the original wood windows had been replaced by aluminum units with reflective glazing in a previous renovation, new reproduction, single hung windows were carefully selected to recreate the former appearance. The projecting brick pilasters were rebuilt above the roof line to recreate the historic appearance of the parapet, including the elaborate brick arch above the angled corner.
The
The exterior
phase of the project was assisted by $100,000 in grants from the
Building Incentive Program of the Victoria Civic Heritage Trust, and a
10-year tax exemption under the City of
The interior suites are a very high quality contemporary design which utilizes the rich materials of the original construction, such as exposed brick walls and wood beams. It also makes creative use of the diagonal steel braces required for the seismic upgrading by leaving them exposed in some of the suites.
The
Award
of Honour - The Ladysmith Maritime Society for:
The Ladysmith Maritime Museum
The Ladysmith Maritime Society is recognized for their many years of effort to conserve and promote the maritime history and heritage of their community.
Created as a port city in 1900 to ship coal from nearby Dunsmuir mines, the history of Ladysmith has always been tied closely to its seaside location. The Maritime Society was formed to celebrate this historic legacy, and preserve its remnants.
Beginning with a bold plan to build a tall ship in anticipation of Expo 86, the newly-created maritime history society did not accomplish this first ambitious project, but did come out of the experience with 300 feet of docks on the local waterfront.
Over the next few years, activities included a program of harbour tours. With plans for a future museum, they began to collect artifacts and sea-related memorabilia.
The society was also involved with restoring vintage vessels, including the tug, “Saravan”, and, a 29-foot retired local ferry boat, “C.A. Kierkegaard”. With government funds to supervise the training of shipwrights, the society was able to re-launch these vessels.
The society experimented quite successfully with an annual maritime festival. This turned out to be too demanding for their volunteer group, however, and they now lend their efforts to support other major community events.
Continuing with their programs of tours, events, and gathering of artifacts and memorabilia, the next major step for the society was the opening of a “floating” museum on the docks. Constructed with volunteer labour and funds from members, the museum houses the artifact collection and archives of the society. The facility also allows for display in an appropriate context of the heritage vessels the society has restored over the years.
The museum received 600 visitors in its first summer season last year. It has been enjoyed by residents and visiting boaters. School groups also took advantage of the museum and the harbour tours.
The Ladysmith Maritime Society is a fine example of a volunteer group effort to conserve an important part of community heritage and make it available for all to appreciate and enjoy.
Award
of Honour -
The “Roots in the Community” Heritage Banners Project
“Roots in the
Community” took shape from a project established by the
The 2007 Heritage Banners
Project developed the heritage theme with students in Grades four to
seven. Students studied
local history and heritage and then selected fourteen sites, including
many of
The students
and teachers were successful in raising local awareness and pride in
their neighbourhood and the City of
The Ruby
Nobbs Award - Pixie McGeachie, of
Pixie
McGeachie is one of those community volunteers that has always
championed a cause and worked quietly but with dedication to the task.
Pixie has given over 30 years of her skills to preserve, promote
and celebrate the heritage and history of
A resident for
over 60 years, Pixie was first drawn to the history of
Pixie also
contributed many hours volunteering to establish
One of Pixie’s
most valuable contributions was taking charge of Friends of Interurban
1223 just when the project to restore one of the last interurban trams
needed a leader. The project
reached far into the community through working partnerships with a
variety of businesses, collectors and other restoration groups.
The Friends volunteers contributed over 20,000 hours and
generated over $550,000 in cash and in-kind support.
She saw this project through to completion with accolades and a
Heritage BC award in 2006 for the tremendous community and volunteer
commitment that Pixie was able to rally to the cause.
The City of
Pixie’s
lifetime commitment and dedication to the heritage of