|
Granville Island
[Photo: Maurice Jassik, www.seegranvilleisland.com]
Granville Island
The 38 acres of Granville Island, worth many millions
of dollars today, were once a little mud flat worth zilch. The little
mound, in fact, used to disappear at high tide. But, to a keen-eyed
public official named Sam McClay, that drab little mud flat (some
called it a sand bar) under the shadow of the old Granville Bridge
looked as if it might be a good base for some landfill. McClay was
secretary of the Vancouver Harbor Commission during the early years
of this century and a strong advocate of the creation of new—and
cheaper—land. A land boom had begun in Vancouver in 1905, you
see, and land became so costly (especially if it had access to the
waters of False Creek or Burrard Inlet) that many manufacturers
couldn't afford to locate at suitable sites; they had to go to less
desirable areas.
Just as McClay's plan to expand the mud flat was about to be put
into effect, a depression came along and the money needed for the
job was no longer available.
Until, that is, a few years later and the arrival
of Harry Stevens on the scene. Stevens, 28 at the time, was a Vancouver
alderman, a man of boundless energy. (He went on to become a Conservative
MP, a cabinet minister under Meighen and Bennett, and the leader
and sole parliamentary representative of the short-lived Reconstruction
Party before he returned to the PCs. In 1952-53 he was president
of the Vancouver Board of Trade.) Stevens began a campaign to persuade
Ottawa to develop the mudflat into an island, the new property to
be under federal control. He succeeded: In 1913 a contract was awarded
to the Pacific Dredging Company and work began. Developed under
the direction of the Harbour Commission, the island was divided
into 80 lots generally 50 or 60 feet (15 or 18 metres) wide and
200 to 300 feet (61 to 91 metres) deep . . . the entire creation
of the island worked out to a cost of $600 an acre! It was described
by the commission as “the cheapest reclamation work in the
harbour.” (As an indication of change, note that the Granville
Island sea wall completed in 1977 cost an average of $960 per lineal
foot)
The total price for the island and its services—sewage, water,
and a BCER spur line—was $342,000.
The first tenant, the B.C. Equipment Co., got a lease and began
to build on its lot in June of 1917. A report issued in the early
’30s showed there were 40 tenants (who almost totally occupied
the island) and they were paying an annual rental equivalent to
$1,600 an acre.
The original area of the new island, built from
fill sucked up from the bottom of False Creek (and perhaps English
Bay), was 34.28 acres. This was later increased to the present 38
when a bridge to the island was dismantled and extra fill was put
in to join the island to the Vancouver “mainland.” (I've
seen figures of 37.04, 40, 41 and 42 acres for the island, but a
recent aerial survey indicates 38 is correct.)
Locals used to call it Mud Island; it wasn't until about 1938,
apparently, that the name Granville Island began to be used regularly.
In June of 1973 the ownership of the island was
transferred from the National Harbors Board to Central Mortgage
and Housing, now Canada Mortgage and Housing. In March of 1977 MP
Ron Basford and Vancouver mayor Jack Volrich officially opened the
Granville Island sea wall, and Basford said it marked the transition
of the island from a “somewhat dishevelled industrial area”
to an area oriented toward people. The total redevelopment cost
$19.5 million (to buy up leases, put down sewers, lay underground
wiring, build the sea wall, and so on), but most of the island's
old industrial buildings have been retained.
Today, Granville Island is one of the city’s most delightful
places to visit . . . and we do, in the millions. Some 10.5 million
people visit annually now, and many of them go to the Granville
Island Public Market, a great urban experience.
Other Archives
Archive - People »
Archive
- Places »
Archive
- Events »
Archive
- Books, etc. »
|
 |
|
