District must do more to protect our heritage

The demolition of the Catholic church on Fourth Avenue is yet another reminder of how rapidly our little town is growing, stretching, and flexing in many ways and in many directions.

Of course, some may agree with this change, and there will be some who dislike its pace.

And yet, there are times when it seems that change does not care about our town as we remember it. The demolition of the church was one such stark reminder of how change can suddenly creep up with a machine to wipe away valuable history and heritage.

The church—and many such buildings—are also a reminder of a time when people grew up to live and work in Squamish. That kind of communal living bonded the community in a social fabric that seems to be slipping from our grasps and our memories perhaps faster than we had anticipated.

We have no doubt changed from a community where people were working and interacting and even dependent on one another to a community where a large portion commute to the city, leaving them little time to connect with the community, even if they so desire.

And yet, it is precisely in this process of change that we should strive to remember our past. That is why it’s important that the District of Squamish officials and the council must look at what other communities are doing to protect their own heritage.

They could look at Steveston where the local government insists that old buildings be kept to preserve the look of the era, and new construction must fit in to ensure historic precedence is kept.

Without much effort, District of Squamish can look at West Vancouver and North Vancouver in seeing how they have created inventory of heritage buildings.

That inventory enables officials to work with developers on retaining historical homes by or offering them density incentives.

The District of North Vancouver recently went so far as to protect a heritage carport from demolition. The only time I can remember District of Squamish doing something for heritage was in 1999, when the district helped move the Brightbill House to the railway heritage park.

Change, unchecked, has the means to erase history.

An example of extreme change can be found around the Anglican Cathedral in downtown Vancouver. It was once surrounded by single-family homes. When you look at all the office towers that now surround it one wonders how the community let that happen.

We must ask ourselves “What do we want?” If we can not control the change how can we live within that change and try to keep what we want of our collective memory of who we are as a community?

We have a great start to preserving our past.

There are several groups promoting preserving the social fabric of the past, and it seems that in all the fuss of continued change their voices are not being heard. The Squamish Historical Society, Squamish Forestry Center Society, First Nations, West Coast Railway Heritage Park and many individuals, to name a few, are all playing a part in trying to preserve the community history.

Perhaps, there is need for a steering committee of people that could include council members and concerned citizens. One of their key mandates would be working with council to ensure that certain aspects of the community remain part of the historical fabric, using zoning and other tools available to the district.

It is time all of us—and particularly—the council woke up to the fact that history and heritage in Squamish need to be protected and preserved, wherever possible.

Trevor Mills is an archivist at the West Coast Railway Association in Squamish