Many of our readers will have views on the political interface between heritage needs and the Provincial government. Those folks will want to know about the

joint All-Candidates’ Meeting for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant and Vancouver-Hastings, Monday May 1st in Gym D at Britannia from 6:30pm.

Quoting from the release:

All ten candidates running in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant and Vancouver-Hastings have said they are coming.

The format for this event is different from All-Candidates Meetings in previous elections.

6:30-7:00 — Everyone is welcome to enjoy socializing over a free light meal (vegetarian soup or chili, buns, butter, salad, and dessert).
7:00-7:45 — Each candidate will have an opportunity to make a 3-minute prepared statement.
7:45-9:00 — Participants will sit at either Hastings or Mount Pleasant tables while candidates in their riding visit their tables to have informal conversations about the issues that concern them — World Café style.

Have your heritage questions ready!

The British historical journal History Workshop has recently published an interesting piece on the value (and lack of use) of local histories.

“Local history takes in a broad range of historical inquiry that can cut across other disciplines and sources including oral traditions, social and cultural practices, ephemera, objects, sites and more. Local history is a powerful tool that contributes to place making and the construction of identity. These histories relate stories of community rituals, traditions and celebrations that are embedded in interpersonal and familial networks. These stories create a dense landscape of meanings that are layered and nuanced.”

Well worth the read.

We have today uploaded a new and updated version of the Grandview Database.

Changes in this version include:

• More than 332 new data points from the City Directories for 1911-1916, various media, and recent MLS reports.;
• 1 additional previously-demolished building recovered;
• miscellaneous minor corrections

We have today uploaded a new and updated version of the Grandview Database.

Update June 4th:  I had misloaded the new pdf and it wasn’t making itself available. I believe it is fixed now and I apologise for any inconvenience.

Changes in this version include:

• More than 247 new data points from the City Directory for 1911, various media and MLS reports, and from Clairw Shepansky’s study of residential displacement in the building of Britannia Community Centre.;
• 8 additional previously-demolished buildings recovered;
• miscellaneous minor corrections

We had a very large turnout for last Thursday’s Grandview Heritage Group monthly meeting. So many in fact we have begun to think about alternate locations; but we’ll let that lie until the new year.  Welcome one and all!  Again, as usual, we had a wide-ranging discussion.

• Michael gave a presentation on basements. Typical early Vancouver housing styles had a residence above an at-grade crawl space. This led to fully designed basements. He showed some 1961 design ideas for basements. He also discussed the securing of heritage homes to foundations.
• Eric then gave the latest in his ongoing series Mechanics and Materials. This month’s subject was manufactured wood. He presented on plywood, hardwood, Beaver Board, and Glulam.
• Jak previewed the December 1st release of the GV Database. Almost a thousand new data points have been entered since the ortiginal release.
• Penny outlined her idea for rewarding new buyers in Grandview who decide not to demolish a heritage house. This led to a brief discussion on rezoning the RT zone to better defend against demolitions.
• Michael discussed the current state of the City’s Heritage Action Plan.  He noted there seems to be no appetite at City Hall to create further Heritage Conservation Areas like First Shaughnessy. He also presented on the change to heritage evaluation criteria, moving to a “value based” approach.
• The Shelly’s Bakery Plaque: Penny discussed the history of the sign and the plaque. The replacement plaque is fading rapidly already and needs to be replaced.  Still thinking of alternatives.
• 2016 Student Intern: Michael discussed the history of our encounters with GEOG 429 students over the last few years, culminating in Kevin Shackle’s excellent work on Grocery Stores. We have been offered a student for 2016. It was agreed we would say yes. Penny, Michael and Jak will work on suggested topics.  Some of the ideas offered at the meeting were: basement history. barners and beauty shops, dairies, the shift from stables to garages, older apartment buildings, the range of “party hat” decoration.
• Next meeting wlll be 21 January 2016.

Stephanie Ann Warner’s blog has a great list of all the available on-line tools for researching all things local and Vancouver Island, with a few sources from elsewhere. Check it out!

Have a look at the plaque on the side of Via Tevere next to the preserved Shelly’s advertisement. Steve Holmes has mounted a brand-new one. The original one, installed a couple of years ago when the sign was restored, had faded to white. We had installed a smaller one temporarily, but the new one is quite splendid. Thank you, Steve!

The Pictorial History of Grandview (available both from the Main Menu and the sidebar) has not been working properly for a while. It was a mystery to us why.  However, it now appears that WordPress has disabled it due to a security flaw, and the original developer of the gallery software is no longer supporting it.

We have not yet found an equivalent gallery software that allows an automatic slideshow.  However, we have adjusted the view that now allows all the images to be shown.  Click on any thumbnail and you should be able to go backwards and forwards through the images.

Sorry for the delay on this; we are historians not technicians!