Constructed as an electrical grid substation by the B.C. Electric Railway Company, the Horne-Payne substation was part of the expansion of this utility company to central Burnaby that occurred as a result of the opening of the Burnaby Lake Interurban line in 1911. The Receiving Station is intended to rearrange the company’s system of distributing power over the whole of the Burrard Peninsula. Power will come to the transformers there and be converted and distributed to the various substations in Vancouver, New Westminster and the suburbs...Work has already been started at the foundation for the new plant. (Vancouver Daily Province, April 29, 1913) When constructed the substation was situated within a forest clearing in a largely undeveloped section of northwest Burnaby. The area now surrounding the substation is heavily developed for semi-industrial purposes. This steel-frame and poured concrete structure was designed to be utilitarian, but with decorative detailing. The south-facing front of the structure features massed corners detailed with decorative relief panels at the roofline. Additionally, this well-balanced building displayed symmetrical fenestration with blind, and tall multi-paned steel-sash windows, some crowned with keystones. A tower added to the east side of the building’s front is the most substantial change made to the appearance of the Horne-Payne substation. This industrial structure was designed by prominent British Columbian architect, Robert Lyon (1879-1963). Born in Edinburgh, Lyon apprenticed and worked as an architect in Scotland until 1908 before moving to New York in 1909. In 1911, he began his career in Vancouver as an “architectural engineer,” with the B.C. Electric Company that lasted until 1918. After a short tenure in the lumber industry, Lyon returned to architecture, this time with his own firm in Penticton. Active in municipal politics, he was instrumental in the incorporation of Penticton as a city, and became its first mayor from 1948-1949. Lyon retired from architecture in 1958 and died in 1963. Lyon also designed the Central Park Gate in Burnaby.
With its two monumental, double height columns terminating in elaborate Ionic capitals, this Neoclassical Revival style house is aptly named The Pillars. Other Neoclassical embellishments include a Palladian pediment window, pilasters with Ionic capitals applied to the front corners of the house and lathe-turned porch columns. Though it has been re-clad with a later covering of asbestos shingles over the original siding, it otherwise retains a high degree of exterior integrity with most of its double-hung windows and decorative elements still in place. This home was constructed for Angus John MacDonald (née Cummins, 1878-1955), Vice-President of A. Linton & Company Ltd., and his wife Mabel Jessie MacDonald (1884-1971). Linton & Company was a shipbuilding firm; MacDonald retired in 1942 after thirty years in the industry. A photograph of this grand house was often featured in the promotional material for the Vancouver Heights subdivision by realtors and titled “A typical Vancouver Heights home.”
The Central Park Entrance Gate is the ceremonial entrance to Burnaby’s historic Central Park from Kingsway, and consists of two massive stone pillars, approximately 7.5 metres high and 1.8 metres square, adjacent gate posts and a low flanking stone wall that curves into the park to the east.
The Central Park Entrance Gate is the ceremonial entrance to Burnaby’s historic Central Park from Kingsway, and consists of two massive stone pillars, approximately 7.5 metres high and 1.8 metres square, adjacent gate posts and a low flanking stone wall that curves into the park to the east.
Heritage Value
The Central Park Entrance Gate is significant as a ceremonial entry to a major park, for its connection with the early history of the British Columbia Electric Railway (BCER) and as an important design by an accomplished British Columbian architect.
When the original interurban line between Vancouver and New Westminster was constructed in 1891, one of the first stations was located where the tramway crossed the Vancouver-Westminster Road (now Kingsway) within the newly-created Central Park. The interurban line ran through the park on a diagonal right-of-way (the current SkyTrain line, opened in 1986, follows this original alignment). In 1912 an agreement was reached between the successor interurban company, the BCER, and the Central Park Provincial Park Board, to deed additional land for an expanded right-of-way through the Park in exchange for improvements that included the construction of an ornamental stone wall and gate with an iron arch, with an illuminated 'Central Park' sign, adjacent to the interurban station on Kingsway. This was an early and rare example of an electric sign used for a public recreation facility.
The Gate is also significant as a surviving early design by Robert Lyon (1879-1963), an Edinburgh-born and trained immigrant who was one of the most accomplished of British Columbia's early architects. After he moved to Vancouver, he was employed by the BCER from 1911 until 1918, and worked on a broad range of projects including some of the grandest and most innovative local industrial structures of the time. The arch was built by the Westminster Ironworks Company, one of the leading firms of its kind in Western Canada, operated by John Reid of New Westminster. The Gate was completed in 1914; in 1968 the decorative ironwork was removed due to corrosion and placed in storage.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Central Park Entrance Gate include its:
- two subtly tapered massive stone pillars, which rise in stages from a larger base to a shaft with random coursed multi-coloured granite with roughly formed grey granite quoins, to a top formed of finely finished grey granite blocks with a coved and bracketed cap
- adjacent gate posts with monolithic pyramidal granite caps
- low flanking stone wall that curves into the park to the east, constructed of random coursed multi-coloured granite with a river rock triangular cap
P.I.D. No. 017-767-172
Legal Description: Block B of Lot 2 Except Firstly: Part on Plan 8669 and Secondly: Part on Plan LMP4689 District Lot 151, Group 1, New Westminster District, Plan 3443
Boundaries
The property (Central Park) is a municipally-owned park that lies at the western edge of Burnaby, between 49th Avenue to the south, Kingsway to the north, Boundary Road to the west and Patterson Avenue to the east.
"Picturesquely situated on the south-westerly slope of the highest hill on the Burrard Peninsula is a district that in many ways resembles the early pioneer settlements…its centre is at the intersection of east Hastings Street and Sperling Avenue. Only a few years ago a dense forest covered this area and the settlers were few and some distance apart. After the war working men began to enter the Lochdale woods in quest of cheap home-sites. Today there are more than 400 residents in the district who combine to make a happy contented industrious community living on the edge of a big city yet enjoying the life offered by the country...The Community Hall is the centre of all social activities. Dances, concerts and other forms of entertainment are all there...Curtis Street runs from Sperling Avenue up to the hill, locally known as Hastings Grove. From the top on a clear day there is a view for miles around." ~ From the Sunday Province, March 8, 1925.
This house was built by Thomas Davis Coldicutt (1879-1970) and Margaret Jane Coldicutt, pre-eminent local citizens. Thomas Coldicutt was born in Birmingham and arrived in Canada in 1900, finding success in the steamboat industry. In 1902, he married Margaret Jane Styler who had been born in Redditch, Worcester, England, and in 1908 they settled in East Burnaby–some of the first pioneers to the area–and established a fruit farm. Thomas had a successful real estate, insurance and brokerage business, and was elected as a councillor for East Burnaby in 1909. He was also active in civic, political and social circles in Burnaby and became president of the Burnaby Board of Trade. "East Burnaby is booming and the signs of prosperity that may be seen on every hand. Most of these are substantial dwellings, such as effect a permanent improvement to the countryside. Among those whose homes have been completed, or on the point of completion may be mentioned. Councillor Coldicutt, who has built himself a habitation on Second Avenue at a cost of $4,000. (The British Columbian, 1911). In 1913, Coldicutt sold his original farm described as “the show place of Burnaby” to the Burnaby School Board for the development of Second Street School and this house was moved from Second Street and Sixteenth Avenue to this site. It has been extensively altered, but retains its original form, scale and massing.
Photograph of Barnet Mill, at one point the largest lumber mill in the British Empire. It closed in 1929. The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Photograph of Barnet Mill, at one point the largest lumber mill in the British Empire. It closed in 1929. The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Photographic postcard of the men's quarters for those who worked at the North Pacific Lumber Company in Barnet, BC. Burrard Inlet is also depicted in the background of the image.
Photographic postcard of the men's quarters for those who worked at the North Pacific Lumber Company in Barnet, BC. Burrard Inlet is also depicted in the background of the image.