Translink is celebrating its second annual I Love Transit Week with a meetup event tomorrow night for all transit enthusiasts.
It’s our yearly chance to celebrate transit—because while there are many things we don’t like about transit, there are still many things that we do like! So come out for some food, fun and games during I Love Transit Night, and look out for some lovely rider-submitted essays and photos in the blog next week and in the August Buzzer.
Where Heritage Grill, New Westminster [Google Map] When Games at 6:30pm, 7:30pm and 8:30pm Extras Food will be provided at this meetup
You can meet up with the Buzzer Blog crew at 5:30pm at Edmonds SkyTrain station bus loop (Bay 5) to ride a Nova Hybrid bus to the event.
The third annual Fusion Festival happens in Surrey this weekend with two full days of entertainment, activities, pavilions, shopping, and food choices from over 25 countries. John and I have covered this event each year and it’s always a good time.
Live entertainment will take place on four stages: the Concord Pacific World Music Stage, Coast Capital Savings Celebration Stage, Chevron Cultural Community Stage and BC Hydro Local Champions Stage. Saturday night headliners include We Are the City and Brasstronaut.
Aside from the music, I think each year our favourite part has got to be the food choices; from Jamaican smoothies, to the empanadas, the tacos, the blueberry cookies, the bannock and exploring delicacies from every continent.
Head over to Holland Park in Surrey this weekend for this free cultural festival. There’s parking but you can leave the car at home as it’s located right between Central City and King George SkyTrain stations. Remember to bring your sunscreen and your apetite.
Having a hard time coming up with a topic this morning I put the call out on Twitter to see what people have been curious to know about Vancouver’s past. There were some suggestions about Joe Fortes or the Great Fire and an abundance of other questions that would be interesting to research. I figured I might as well start a new series this week that will answer about a dozen of these history questions I received on Twitter.
kristyaudrey: @Miss604 I want the details on the underground tunnels- where, why, how and when can I see them?
There is an old CPRail tunnel under downtown and in some spots it’s only about 6 meters below the surface. CPRail used the 1,396-metre-long (4,579 feet) tunnel for nearly 50 years.
“Construction on the tunnel began in January 1931 and was completed in July 1933. Shaped roughly like an elongated S curve, it started from the CPR’s main line just west of the station under Thurlow Street, up to Dunsmuir and along to Cambie where it cut under Larwill Park — now a big parking lot at the southeast corner of Dunsmuir and Cambie — and came out near the western abutment of the Georgia Viaduct.”
1930 – 1933, CPR Dunsmuir Tunnel Western outlet at Cordova/Waterfront Archives Item#: CVA 152-6.11.1
The current SkyTrain tunnel from Stadium-Chinatown through to Granville, Burrard, and Waterfront is the old CPR tunnel. To accomodate SkyTrain the single-rail track was rebuilt and a new entrance was made.
1930 – 1933, constructions of the CPR tunnel at Dunsmuir Archives Item#: CVA 152-6.04, Dominion Photo Co.
The original entrance, that was visible until just a few years ago, is now hidden behind Costco. The tunnel will turn 77 years old on July 16th.
1930 – 1933, CPR Dunsmuir Tunnel eastern outlet at False Creek (where the viaduct runs overhead today) Archives Item#: CVA 152-6.12
That being said, the CPRail tunnel is not the only one in Vancouver. The Bank of Canada had a tunnel that ran under West Hastings Street to safeguard against robberies and Canada Post on Georgia Street also had a tunnel leading out to the CPRail tunnel.
Here’s an old city document I found about Canada Post’s lease on the tunnel:
“In 1954 the federal Minister of Public Works applied to the City for a ninety-nine (99) year lease of lands beneath City streets to construct and operate a mail transfer tunnel from the main CPR station to the newly to be constructed main Post Office. At that time the mail came to Vancouver on the CPR railway. As the Vancouver Charter then read, a lease in excess of thirty (30) years required the assent of the electors… The thirty (30) year lease with the federal Minister of Public Works was entered into October 10, 1957. Shortly after completion of the tunnel, mail began to move by air and so the tunnel was never used.”
According to this document, Canada Post received a lease on the tunnel until December 15, 2055.
As for the rumoured Chinatown tunnels, Vancouver History guru John Atkin as well as Chris Mathieson of the Vancouver Police Museum confirm they do not exist, contrary to popular belief. However there were a few basement passageways through walls that once connected gambling parlous and opium dens. Old steam tunnels also exist out at UBC.
There are no current tours of the Canada Post tunnels that I am aware of although John Atkin would be the person to go to for this. I believe he used to run some tours down there and still does several history walks around town.
Chicago Blackhawks’ center Colin Fraser is bringing the Stanley Cup to his hometown of Surrey, BC today.
It’s tradition for each member of the winning team to tour their hometowns and show off their prize. This afternoon the City of Surrey has setup a special event for the Fraser’s arrival with the Cup at Central City.
Where Central City Plaza, 13450 102 Ave [Google Map] When 12:00pm until 3:00pm
This is a free family event with live music, a BBQ, and the Stanley Cup being unveiled at 12:30pm. There will also be drop-in street hockey for kids ages 6-12.
Although Fraser has since been traded to the Edmonton Oilers, he’ll always be able to come home to Surrey. Head out there if you can to congratulate him on his efforts and to see the Stanley Cup in person.
Update There will be a parade in Delta/Tsawwassen tomorrow as fellow Blackhawk Brent Seabrook hosts a celebration in his hometown. Teammate Andrew Ladd will also be having an event in Maple Ridge.
During our trip to Iowa this time around we made it to the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville. Tour bus loads of baseball teams, families on picnic blankets, and old friends playing a round of catch all flock to this site made famous by Hollywood.
Although it was the first time I felt the green velvet of left field between my toes like Shoeless Joe this place has had a special meaning to me for some time.
To warm myself up for our slow sizzling days in Iowa I have been reading the book Shoeless Joe, upon which the film Field of Dreams was based. We played catch in the outfield as occasionally the ball would skip past us and disappear into the corn. WP Kinsella does a far better job of describing the simple magic of an Iowa cornfield than I ever could.
“The fading sun was a rich orange; the shadows of the tall light standards reached across the field like long black arms. Yards away, the mysterious green and gold corn rustled like delicate guests in conversation.”
Leaving Iowa this afternoon I reflected back on our trip as though I was a school-child writing a report about “what I did this summer.”
I watched a 4th of July parade pass by the front of the house while a flag snapped above us in the wind. I strolled the banks of the Mississippi and climbed up to watch boats dance in its flow from the bluffs above. And well, I walked down the dusty streets of John’s hometown to buy a bottle of tequila from the grocery store so the family could make margaritas with dinner.
Through all of these experiences, John would lean in to me and say, “this is my Iowa,” and I’m pretty thankful that he’s let me into his world and his family to explore this wonderful place.
