Print | Heritage Burnaby

Central Park

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark728

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Associated Dates: 1891

Street View URL: Google Maps Street View

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Geographic Access: Imperial Street

Associated Dates: 1891

Heritage Value: In 1860, as the Royal Engineers constructed the road from New Westminster to Vancouver (now Kingsway), a military reserve was set aside at the trail's highest point along the ridge. This reserve provided a particularly good scenic look-out since the original forest had burned down prior to 1860, the remaining stumps offered unobstructed views. By the 1880s, the city council of both New Westminster and Vancouver eyed the reserve as potential recreation ground. As construction of the tram line was underway, the Provincial Government moved to designate the whole reserve as a park. On January 14, 1891, the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia proclaimed it as a public recreation ground.

Historic Neighbourhood: Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Maywood Area

Street Address: 3883 Imperial Street

Street View URL: Google Maps Street View

Images

Central Park Entrance Gate

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark544

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Description: 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.

Associated Dates: 1913

Formal Recognition: Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register

Street View URL: Google Maps Street View

2 images

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Geographic Access: Imperial Street

Associated Dates: 1913

Formal Recognition: Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register

Enactment Type: Bylaw No. 9807

Enactment Date: 23/11/1992

Description: 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

Historic Neighbourhood: Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Maywood Area

Organization: British Columbia Electric Railway; Central Park Provincial Park Board

Architect: Robert Lyon

Builder: John Reid; Westminster Iron Works Co.

Function: Primary Current--Park Fixture; Primary Historic--Park Fixture

Community: Burnaby

Cadastral Identifier: 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.

Area: 853,403.82

Contributing Resource: Structure; Landscape Feature

Ownership: Public (local)

Names: Lyon, Robert; Reid, John; Westminster Iron Works Company; British Columbia Electric Railway Company; Central Park Provincial Park Board

Subjects: Structures - Fences

Street Address: 3883 Imperial Street

Street View URL: Google Maps Street View

Images

Central Park Entrance Gate, 2013.. Front elevation. thumbnail

View of Central Park Entrance Gate and Kingsway, 1921 (Oblique view from northeast. Historic Photo). Copyright: City of Burnaby. thumbnail

Central Park Neighbourhood

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark688

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Associated Dates: 1925-1954

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Associated Dates: 1925-1954

Heritage Value: Although still largely a rural area during the 1920s, subdivisions began appearing in the Central Park neighbourhood at this time. Development was slowed by the Great Depression of the 1930s but the influx of commercial buildings and new housing initiatives in the post-war boom led to a period of rapid growth especially in the Garden Village subdivision which was undertaken in 1953 with the plan to build 500 modern homes in the 140-acre site. Despite the closure of the interurban line in 1953, the neighbourhood remained an active commercial and residential centre.

Historic Neighbourhood: Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Maywood Area

Images

Central Park Neighbourhood

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark723

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Associated Dates: 1891-1904

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Associated Dates: 1891-1904

Heritage Value: Central Park was one of the first and fastest-growing communities in Burnaby. Located along the electric tram line and the Vancouver Road (Kingsway), it was also chosen for a government settlement project referred to as the Central Park Small Holdings. The lands held by the Provincial Government were subdivided and sold around 1894 and by 1899 the settlement was large enough to warrant the construction of an Anglican Church there.

Historic Neighbourhood: Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Maywood Area

Images

Central Park Neighbourhood

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark751

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Associated Dates: 1905-1924

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Associated Dates: 1905-1924

Heritage Value: In 1906, Maxwell Smith, President of the Central Park Farmer's Institute gave a speech in which he commented on the growth of this district and its ideal location during the boom years after 1905. He said: "Central Park is destined to become the epicentre of a great commercial metropolis, when Vancouver and New Westminster will have both expanded and prospered until they meet and fill up the intervening distances with residences of a new city, greater than few can now imagine, even in their wildest flights of fancy...we are proud of the two cities that lie on either side of us but they are, but mere hamlets compared with the great city that is to be on this peninsula. The time is coming when there will be one vast city, one commercial metropolis, and Central Park will be the heart of it."

Historic Neighbourhood: Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Maywood Area

Images

Central Park Tramline

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark732

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Associated Dates: 1891

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Heritage Planning

Associated Dates: 1891

Heritage Value: In the 1890s, local entrepreneurs launched electric railways in Vancouver, New Westminster, and Victoria, eager to cash in on the promise of future growth in the major cities of the time. In the Lower Mainland, two companies started building electric rail in 1890: the Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Co., which undertook the ambitious project of building the first real interurban line from New Westminster to Vancouver, and the Westminster Street Railway, who eventually built streetcar service and installed electric lighting in New Westminster. By April 20, 1891, both companies merged to form the Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company. Local entrepreneurs Henry V. Edmonds, David Oppenheimer, Benjamin Douglas, and Samuel McIntosh, were the directors, all of whom had extensive real estate holdings in the area. Interurban service launched on June 3, 1891, travelling along 12 miles of track from New Westminster to eastern Vancouver, running through Burnaby – which was then an unincorporated area. Installing the single-track line from Vancouver to New Westminster through uneven, forested terrain was a mammoth undertaking. The clearing of the 100-foot right of way and laying the track called for a large work force, some of whom were Chinese "gandy dancers" who had worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway lines. The line was eventually taken over by the B.C. Electric Railway Company in 1897, who remained the owners until the line was finally closed on October 23, 1953 and replaced with the modern bus system. The construction of the SkyTrain along the old route in 1986 reintroduced passenger rail to this historic transportation corridor.

Historic Neighbourhood: Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Maywood Area

Images

Application of Central Park Lawn Bowling Club for Construction of a Clubhouse in Central Park

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/councilreport47809

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Report ID: 47998

Meeting Date: 28-Nov-1949

Format: Council - Mayor/Councillor/Staff Report

Collection/Fonds: City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds

2 documents

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Report ID: 47998

Meeting Date: 28-Nov-1949

Format: Council - Mayor/Councillor/Staff Report

Collection/Fonds: City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds

Documents

Report 47998

28-Nov-1949 Meeting Minutes

Application of Central Park Local Committee re repairs to Central Park Community Hall

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/councilreport57051

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Report ID: 71823

Meeting Date: 1-Feb-1932

Format: Council - Committee Report

Collection/Fonds: City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds

2 documents

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Report ID: 71823

Meeting Date: 1-Feb-1932

Format: Council - Committee Report

Collection/Fonds: City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds

Documents

Report 71823

1-Feb-1932 Meeting Minutes

Applications for Liquor Licenses (a) Joseph Davis - Alta Vista (b) Winnifred Aistad and Co. - Central Park (c) G.H. Tomilson - Jubilee (d) M.J. Pratt - Royal Oak and Rumble (e) Herbert E. Matthews - Burnaby Lake (f) Mr. Monk - Hastings Street E. (g) D. Cudmore - Jubilee (h) Phillip Oben - Central Park (i) A. Lomas - Jubilee (j) E. Johnstone - Jubilee (k) Andrew M. Johnson - Royal Oak

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/councilreport71371

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Report ID: 736003

Meeting Date: 2-Aug-1920

Format: Council - Mayor/Councillor/Staff Report

Collection/Fonds: City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds

2 documents

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Report ID: 736003

Meeting Date: 2-Aug-1920

Format: Council - Mayor/Councillor/Staff Report

Collection/Fonds: City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds

Documents

Report 736003

2-Aug-1920 Meeting Minutes

Central Park Progressive Association re Sidewalk from Central Park Station to Smith Avenue

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/councilreport77285

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Report ID: 81758

Meeting Date: 23-Jul-1910

Format: Council - Mayor/Councillor/Staff Report

Collection/Fonds: City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds

2 documents

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Report ID: 81758

Meeting Date: 23-Jul-1910

Format: Council - Mayor/Councillor/Staff Report

Collection/Fonds: City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds

Documents

Report 81758

23-Jul-1910 Meeting Minutes

First Central Park B.P. Boy Scouts, Central Park, BC

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription1054

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [1910]

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph : sepia ; 12.3 x 17.8 cm mounted on cardboard 22.0 x 27.0 cm

Scope and Content: Photograph of the First Central Park Troop of Boy Scouts. They are wearing uniforms and posed outside in front of bleachers at Central Park. There are 28 boys ranging in age from about seven to twelve, and four adults. A boy in the back row is holding a Union Jack with a circle in the middle in whi…

2 images

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph : sepia ; 12.3 x 17.8 cm mounted on cardboard 22.0 x 27.0 cm

Scope and Content: Photograph of the First Central Park Troop of Boy Scouts. They are wearing uniforms and posed outside in front of bleachers at Central Park. There are 28 boys ranging in age from about seven to twelve, and four adults. A boy in the back row is holding a Union Jack with a circle in the middle in which is written, "B.P.B.S. / 1st / Central Park / Troop." A caption printed on the bottom front of the frame reads, "First Central Park B.P. Boy Scouts, Central Park, B.C." A annotation on the back of the photo reads, "Mr. Robertson."