Submitted for the September 2011 issue of the Renfrew Collingwood Community newspaper. I don't know if this made deadline, but this is good news that deserves to be shared!
Collingwood Library: A Place That Matters
A local landmark in Renfrew Collingwood was chosen as one of Vancouver’s “125 Places That Matter,” a project sponsored by the Vancouver Heritage Foundation. The Vancouver Heritage Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the city of Vancouver’s heritage buildings and structures. Renfrew Collingwood’s own Collingwood branch library will be recognized with a plaque that will be installed on or in the library sometime in the fall of 2011.
Designed by local Vancouver architects Harold Semmens and Douglas Simpson, Collingwood branch library opened in July 1951. The building’s contemporary design inspired regional library design from Kelowna to New Westminster. The library’s design pedigree has enjoyed some recent notoriety. The library was included in a “Top Ten Endangered Heritage Sites” list for 2011 compiled by Heritage Vancouver (a different organization), and highlighted by a bus tour and recent panel discussion in June. Moreover, the work of Douglas Simpson is finally gaining wider recognition with a monograph of the architect’s work in the planning stage.
Other local landmarks from Renfrew Collingwood nominated for recognition included Guy Carleton Elementary School, the 2400 Motel, Avalon Dairy (located at 43rd Avenue and Wales Street) and Collingwood Neighbourhood House. (At press time, no decision had been made regarding the inclusion of any other landmarks from Renfrew Collingwood .)
According to its website, the foundation “asked Vancouverites to get involved in choosing 125 sites where plaques will be mounted commemorating people, places and events that helped to shape our city.” These nominations were then put to a public online vote and the 125 choices finalized by an eleven person selection committee.
According to Mr. Sean Ayers, Development Officer at the Vancouver Heritage Foundation, they are looking for sponsors for the plaque that will be installed at Collingwood branch library. The cost to sponsor a site is $750.00. According to a recent email correspondence, “the sponsorship will pay for original research of the site, the production and installation of the plaque, and the creation of a website that will elaborate on the site’s history.” A charitable tax receipt will be issued to individuals sponsoring a plaque.
For more information regarding Vancouver’s “125 Places That Matter” please check www.vancouverheritagefoundation.org.
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