NV's Shipyard Heritage Under Threat
Three buildings could be dismantled
Heidi Castle, North Shore News
Published: Wednesday, December 19, 2007
In an unprecedented move, the City of North Vancouver is reviewing the heritage designation of three buildings sitting on the Versatile Shipyards site as it tries to ready the land for future development.
Council wants to rescind the heritage designation of the Wallace shipyard machine shop built in 1911 and the boiler house and blacksmith shop built in 1925.
According to a city report, the Versatile shipyard and the adjacent Wallace and Burrard shipyards comprise the most significant heritage site in the city.
The city has never rescinded a heritage designation. And, it happens infrequently elsewhere in the province.
Council wants to dismantle and move the machine shop from its current site on parcel 10 and put it into storage, while demolishing the other two buildings.
This move makes way for the possibility that the land will house the National Maritime Centre.
However, the future of the National Maritime Centre hinges on federal, provincial and private sector funding. At this point, funding for that project is still up in the air.
Mayor Darrell Mussatto told council Monday that rescinding the heritage designation is not an easy decision, but to wait for confirmation on the maritime centre could cost the city millions.
"I don't really enjoy going down this road but I do know we have to go if we're going to proceed in some productive way in the future with this site whether we get the National Maritime Centre or not," he said.
To ready the land for development involves either driving piles into the soil for building support, or clearing and stabilizing the soil. The latter process, known as dynamic compaction, is less expensive.
"Developments that are happening around the site, with the hotel and such will preclude us from having this opportunity," said Mussatto.
To wait could cost the city an additional $2.5 million to $7 million, he said. "We don't have that kind of money in our accounts."
Pinnacle International is building a 110-room hotel with a 4,000-square-foot conference centre on the south east corner of Esplanade and Lonsdale Avenue. It is currently in negotiations with the city over land title for parcels nine and 10.
The timing is wrong, said Coun. Pam Bookham. She said she would prefer a commitment on the maritime centre and completed land negotiations between the city and Pinnacle before proceeding.
"I'm not prepared to see changes to the heritage designation of those buildings or what remains of those buildings on that site until we have a better sense of what the future holds for us," she said.
The North Shore Heritage Preservation Society agrees.
"The shipyards are arguably the most important heritage site on the North Shore, and are of wider significance to our province and country," said Peter Miller, president of the society in a letter to council. "You hold them in trust for future generations."
Miller said only 10 of the original 22 shipyard buildings remain, with the rest having been demolished for residential development in the area.
The National Historic Sites and Monuments Board is considering giving the area status as a national historic site. City staff believe that may fail if more heritage buildings are demolished. To retain and reassemble the blacksmith shop on another site in the future would cost council an additional $250,000.
Council voted 6-1 to move to a public hearing on the issue.
© North Shore News 2007