I photograph houses in North Vancouver that have been scheduled for demolition, as a way of documenting our history. I hope that you will come along for this tribute to the people that called these houses "home".
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Choo Choo Britannia
Head north on the Sea to Ski Highway (#99) from Vancouver B. C. for 30 kilometers and you will come to the Britannia Beach. Looming over this community of about 300 people is the B. C. Museum of Mining. Britannia Beach was started in the early 1900's by the staff of the Britannia Mining and Smelting Company. The ore they mined and smelted was copper. The British Columbia Museum of Mining opened in 1975. Today the mine is a tourist attraction. It has been closed for renovations but will reopen February 1, 2010 as part of the Britannia Project.
The railroad runs along the waters edge of the Britannia Beach. Three tourist trains have used these rails in recent years. In the 1970's the Royal Hudson Steam train ran a round trip excursion to Squamish. Next came the Pacific Starlight Dinner Train. Since then the Rocky Mountaineer's, Whistler Sea to Sky Climb with its dome car has run May to September. Passengers over the past forty years have gazed at the B.C. Museum of Mining climbing up the hillside as their train has "choo choo-ed" through the community of Britannia Beach.
What are the chances of building a house on a street with the same name as yours? Well Robert and Wilma Lloyd did. They built it at 2015 Lloyd Avenue in 1949 for $6,500 and in 1954 a $400 addition. This was the typical North Vancouver home of the time and many can still be seen throughout the area. The houses are basically stucco with horizontal wood clapboard covering the lower front of the house. A large picture window with an opening side section sits on one side of the front door, the living room side of the entrance hall. The high triple windows sit on the other side of the front door, the bedroom side of the entrance hall. Even the bright blue painted cedar siding is reminiscent of the times.
The Lloyds continued to live on Lloyd Avenue at least until 1960 when Robert was working as a cat operator for General Construction. In 1971 Jack and Florence Morton owned the house. In 1980 Jack had his own company, Jack Morton Realty and Insurance. In 1990 the City Directory lists Jack as president of that company. And when the new millennium rolled around, the phone directory indicates that Jack was still owner of the white stucco and blue shiplap house on Lloyd Avenue. He had lived the house for over 30 years.
Lloyd Avenue was named for Arthur Henry Orland Lloyd, a trustee for Lonsdale Estates. It is a block west of Mackay Avenue which is the eastern border between the City and District of North Vancouver. This District area street starts at West 1st Street and runs north across Marine Drive, through Pemberton Heights, and across the Upper Levels Highway to end at Murdo Fraser Golf Course. The house at 2015 Lloyd Avenue is in the Pemberton Heights area.
Research: Thank you to Dick Lazenby for information on Arthur Henry Orland Lloyd. Demolition Permit: Applied for November 2009. Photo: Taken December 2009 by SW.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010 At the Water's Edge
The house at 1675 Edgewater Lane sits on the eastern bank of the Seymour River. A canopy of trees stretches out over the roof to block the house from even being recorded in an aerial view map of the area. Edgewater Lane is parallel to Riverside Drive north of Mount Seymour Parkway. The building of the house is not listed in the Building Permit book at the North Vancouver Archives. However, in 1957 a permit for a $2000 addition is. The owner in 1980 was George Anderson, a sander at A and W Floor Company. The address of the house at this time was 1625 Riverside Drive. Edgewater Lane was established as a subdivision in 1974. A Riverside Drive neighbor reports that the 1675 Edgewater Lane house was on sale for $120,000 in 1984. Following that it was a rental property for several years. In 1991 and 1995 the house was vacant. In 1998 the owner was P. Gadon. The roof of this one storey house is covered in cedar shakes. Cedar shakes are a favorite of home owners in North Vancouver. They are indigenous to the area and reflect the wild wooded and bush nature in the west coast rain forest that is North Vancouver. However, they are not always a friendly material to use. The slope of the roof must be steep enough to quickly shed the water of the many rainy days here. And it must always be remembered that "wood rots" is a constant chant of North Shore home owners. A shake roof in North Vancouver may last for as little as 15 years and for the size of the Edgewater Lane home may be around $20,000 to replace. For whatever of these reasons the shakes on the Edgewater Lane home looked like they had been rotting for some years. Shakes are mounted on wood slats with spaces between. When a shake roof rots the roof leaks. The amount of water damage to the inside of this home is probably extensive.
The Seymour River running along the yard in the back of the house starts north of Seymour Lake which is to the east of Cathedral Mountain. At the south end of the lake is the Seymour Falls Dam on the west side and on the east side the Seymour River Fish Hatchery and Education Centre. Both of these are at the north end of the Lower Seymour River Conservation Reserve. The river then runs south past Maplewood's Farm Park to empty into Burrard Inlet just east of the Iron Workers Memorial (formerly the Second Narrows) Bridge. Sports fisherman can often be seen at the mouth of the river.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 The Day They Tore the School House Down
Several schools, in fact 6 schools, in North Vancouver School District 44 have been demolished in recent years. District 44 includes approximately 7 secondary and 30 elementary schools from the Capilano River in the west to Deep Cove in the east. It includes all the schools in both the City of North Vancouver and North Vancouver District. Most of the new schools have been built on the school property and ready for the students to move into before the old school was torn down. This is true of the pictured Highlands Elementary School at 3150 Colwood Drive in the District of North Vancouver.
Highlands Elementary School serves the community of the Edgemont Village area in the Capilano Highlands. There are 429 students at the school that at one time also offered a Community School program. The old flat roofed school was built in 1959 for $194,000. Part of it can be seen in the right hand side of the photo. The new school was built at a cost of $13,000,000. The grand opening was October 16, 2010. This school can be seen in the rear of the photo. It has a slant roof in the front. In the second floor concrete pillars are clad in wood, making them look like trees.
The other North Vancouver schools that have built next to the original buildings are Sutherland Secondary School at 1860 Sutherland Avenue, Westview Elementary School at 1660 Bewicke Avenue, and Lynn Valley Elementary School at 3250 Mountain Highway. Lonsdale Elementary School at 2151 Lonsdale Avenue was demolished and the property is being developed for other than a school. Sutherland Secondary School was demolished in 2009. Westview Elementary was demolished in 2007. Lynn Valley Elementary School was demolished in 2004 however the part of the school that was the 1920 building was retained and renovated as the North Vancouver Community History Centre housing the Archives and offices of the Museum.
Carson Graham Secondary School is presently in the process of being demolished and rebuilt, all at the same time. Since there is no land available to completely build a new school at the same time the old school is standing, the school is being replaced in sections. The south west and west sections housing the cafeteria, music, and shop areas will be demolished and rebuilt first. During this process students that would use these areas are being bussed to the nearby vacant Balmoral Junior Secondary School for classes there. Secondly the north section of Carson Graham will be demolished and then rebuilt. A remaining and newer part of the school on the east side and containing the theater will remain part of the new school.
A school that looks like it is being torn down, but isn't is Ridgeway Elementary School at 420 East 8th Street. This school is undergoing a seismic upgrade. While construction is going on the classes are being held in the old Cloverley Elementary School building at East 4th Street and Hendry Avenue. Photos taken by SW of all the schools in North Vancouver are available at the North Vancouver Archives. Link: http://www.nvsd44.bc.ca/schoolsites/highlands.aspx Photo: Taken January 3, 2010 by SW.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 The Tall Cedars of Trenton
A row of stately Cedar trees borders the street side of the 1957 home at 3907 Trenton Place. The house on the west side of the street sits on the curve leading up from the corner with Glenview Crescent . All this is tucked away a block from Highland Blvd. and nestled along Mosquito Creek. Mosquito Creek itself originates in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park north of both Grouse Mountain and Mount Fromme. The creek flows down through North Vancouver District through the neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Delbrook and Capilano Highlands and into the City of North Vancouver. Here it empties into Burrard Inlet at Bewicke Park.
J. Kaliski built the house on the sloping lot of the mountain side for $12,000. Louise and Jacob, a notary public continued to live there at least until 1960. By 1970 J. M Cambell was the owner. And Mrs. Jeannine Campbell, a court reporter for the B. C. Government Attorney General live there in 1980 as well. Again new owners are listed in the 1991 City Directory, Jenny and MalcomMcLaws.
It will be interesting to see what use of the sloping lot is made with the building of the new house, and if the tall Cedars still stand.
A Demolition Permit was applied for December 2009. Photo: January 3, 2010.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Cotoneaster Gussy-ups Grey Stucco
Greeting visitors to the simple boxy grey stucco house at 359 East 13th Street is the ornamentally trimmed cotoneaster shrub. The cotoneaster thrives in the rainy North Vancouver City weather. From the looks of the shrub it could have been planted at the same time as the house was built. This was probably in the 1950's although there is no listing as to the exact date in the Building Permit book at the North Vancouver Archives. The cotoneaster is covered in bright red berries during the grey winter months and small pink flowers in the spring.
The house on East 13th Street was definitely built before 1960 because by that time Margaret and James W. Marshall had moved into it. James was an auditor for the Workman's Compensation Board. They lived there in 1971 when James worked in the assessment office at the WCB. In fact James lived in the house even after he retired and until 1991. That means the Marshall family lived in the house probably over 30 years. The front walk cotoneaster must have become an old friend by then.
The housing to be built at 359 East 13th Street is a side-by-side two storey duplex with a cellar. The two units with cellars will be approximately 1,783 sq ft each with exterior access. Two parking spaced in an enclosed garage with vehicle access from a newly opened rear lane will be provided (North Shore News Nov 11, 2009). The question is, "Will the cotoneaster still be there?"
Photo: Taken in 2010 by SW.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
End of Month Index
January 2010
Arranged by Subject and Address; Country, State/Province, City, Street:numerical East, alphabetical, numerical West.
CANADA
British Columbia
City of North Vancouver
805 East 5th Street, The Tiny House, 1/4/2010
365 East 9th Street, Turquoise on a Heritage Street, 1/27/2010
258 East 11th Street, Last House on the Block, 1/14/2010
1805 ChesterfieldAvenue, Pink Posies on Chesterfield, 1/21/2010
440 Hendry Avenue, Moved Not Demolished, 1/12/2010
384 East Keith Road, Mirror Image, 1/5/2010 1920 Mahon Avenue, Start the Demolition, 1/11/2010
1033 St. Georges Avenue, 104 Fires in the City, 1/7/2010
1044 St. Georges Avenue, St. Andrew's United Church, 1/24/2010
649 Sylvan Avenue, Upper Mosquito Creek, 1/6/2010 3015 Woodbine Drive, Where did all the gas stations go?, 1/25/2010
1398 West 15th Street,Sunday Church Feature, St. Richard's Anglican
Church, St. Richard's of Norgate ,1/3/2010
Vancouver
801 Georgia Street, Special Feature, Wrapped in the Canadian Flag 1/1/10
923 Georgia Street, Special Feature, Georgia Medical Dental Building, 1/22/2010
UNITED STATES
California
Balboa Island, Balboa Island Cottage, 1/30/2010
Catalina Island, Catalina Casino, 1/9/2010 San Diego, Old Town San Diego, 1/16/2010 San Francisco, San Francisco Cathedral, Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1/23/2010
Suzanne Wilson "Demolition Mama"
I'm a volunteer at the North Vancouver Archives. Since 2001 I've been photographing houses to be demolished in the City and district of North Vanocuver. To celebrate 2010, the last year of this project, I'll feature a house a day on this blog, starting January 1, 2012. Fridays there may be a Special Feature of other B.C. buildings, Saturday will be a Travel Feature, and Sunday will be a Church Feature. Also, I'll share some photos from my other collections: Y2K Project, Churches and Travels. The last day of the month I'll summarize with an index.
