BC heritage
Vancouver’s storyteller: Prolific writer and broadcaster Chuck Davis has made Vancouver the focus of his writing. Faced with a dire cancer prognosis, he hopes another writer will complete what may be his final exploration of the city he loves
Standing on the stage of the Vancouver Playhouse, seemingly oblivious to the spotlight but completely attentive to the near-capacity audience, Chuck Davis labours for breath between sentences. “You’d never know from my voice I used to be a staff announcer at CBC,” he says, referring to the fluid in his lungs. The crowd turns sombre, [...]
New Westminster: Government of Canada Invests in the Fraser River Discovery Centre
The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, today announced funding for the Fraser River Discovery Centre. This funding will support the 3rd annual BC Rivers Day Festival taking place September 25 and 26, 2010, in New Westminster. This diverse community event will include live music, children’s entertainment, interactive arts and crafts [...]
New Westminster: Arts advocates press for keeping the Massey Theatre
In a city that typically honours its heritage, representatives from New West’s arts community are asking what’s the rush to replace the Massey Theatre. “You can’t put siding on a house in Queen’s Park without conforming to heritage standards,” said Chad Matchette, producer of the Royal City Musical Theatre. “Why don’t we celebrate what we [...]
Chinatown murals tell stories of survival, rtist depicts the lives of Chinese immigrants from three different eras
The year is about 1884 and the young girl staring out from the historic photograph is wearing a slight smile on her delicate face. Her hair is slicked back into a tight bun, her body draped in a traditional Chinese dress. Her feet appear to be bound. She, like the other five people in that [...]
Graffiti artists portray Vancouver history and war heroes, Five Victoria Cross recipients will appear on wall
A new mural replacing the graffiti covered in blue by the city shortly before the Olympics will be complete in two weeks, its creators say. Vince Dumoulin, one of 15 artists who painted the previous Beatty Street graffiti mural on a concrete wall that stretches between Dunsmuir and Georgia streets, said his concept will reflect [...]
West Kelowna: 50th Anniversary of the Okanagan Symphony is Golden Midsummer Magic Music and Wine Gala Celebration at Mission Hill Family Estate
The Okanagan Symphony is celebrating their 50th year with a gala benefit this weekend, July 17, at Mission Hill Family Estate winery. The most substantial fundraising activity for the OSO of the year, the evening regularly raises about $80,000 annually of their $800,000 budget. The largest performing arts organization in BC’s interior, the funding helps [...]
Vancouver: Fix the Pantages — and the neighbourhood (letter by Donna Spencer)
Re: It’s curtains for the Pantages Theatre, July 3 I read this article by John Mackie with dismay and disappointment. How could we allow a historical treasure with such a rich history to be forgotten and dismissed? The Pantages Theatre Society worked diligently with Marc Williams, of Worthington Properties, to restore the theatre, without success, [...]
Duncan: Chinatown heritage photos to grace downtown alleyway
Duncan’s Chinatown comes back to life in photos to decorate a Station Street alley by summer’s end. The joint project by the Duncan Business Improvement Association and the Cowichan Valley Museum will hang some two–dozen pictures of downtown’s Chinatown. It leveled in the late ‘60s to make way for the round building, the courthouse and [...]
Province takes feds to task on heritage
It might come too late to reimburse Victoria’s big bill to Rogers’ Chocolates, but the province is lobbying to protect municipalities from bearing liability for historic sites. “Offering financial assistance to municipal governments tasked with protecting nationally-recognized gems like Rogers’ Chocolates will ensure ongoing stewardship of heritage resources at the community level,” wrote B.C. Minister [...]
Langley Township: Museum closure could harm tourism
Langley Township council is considering a two-day closure of the museum to shave $31,000 off the budget. In an attempt to reduce the 2010 budget, the Township of Langley is considering closing the Langley Centennial Museum (LCM) for Sundays and Mondays during the fall, winter and spring. The Langley Heritage Society has sent a letter [...]
Arts group drops attempt to save doomed Pantages Theatre
The Pantages Theatre Arts Society has given up its fight to save the 102-year-old theatre after three years of negotiations with the city stalled, according to the society’s chair. Vancouver’s oldest theatre-located in the Downtown Eastside on East Hastings Street-is in extremely bad condition, Peter Fairchild said in a Dec. 18 open letter to the [...]
It could be curtains for Vancouver’s heritage theatre: Pantages Theatre Arts Society drops fight after city rejects restoration plan
For three years, a group of Vancouver arts and heritage enthusiasts has worked tirelessly to save an old vaudeville theatre in the city’s Downtown Eastside, arguing that the Pantages represents an important part of the city’s history. But now their efforts are exactly that: history. The Pantages Theatre Arts Society (PTAS) has officially pulled the [...]
$8.1 million keeps B.C. history alive
B.C.’s heritage sites are getting an $8.1 million share of the B.C. government’s year-end cash injection to the slowing provincial economy. Tourism Minister Bill Bennett announced the funds Thursday at St. Ann’s Academy, the Roman Catholic school in Victoria that has been a heritage site since 1973. He said the sites will have a three-year [...]
