Dear Editor,
Do you support the restoration of the orchard cottages; support the restoration of cottages with less architectural interest than some long abandoned roadside fruit stand?
Thanks, but no thanks - the bulldozer can’t come soon enough.
For centuries, Bowen Island was used as a summer outpost by the native Squamish Nation, who hunted for deer and fished for salmon here. The Bowen Heritage website describes it in this way - “On Xwlíl’xhwm, the Squamish established a tiny village called Qole’laqom and here they hunted, fished or stopped over during long voyages up and down the coast.” Then Bowen Heritage goes on to tell us that the early Europeans made Bowen a “hive of industrial activities” including a Brickworks and Explosives Company. Contrary to the words written in a letter to the editor a few issues back, the Davies Orchard site was never designed to be a “sweet cluster of charming wooden buildings.” It was never designed as an area for tourist accommodations, or artisan cottages. It was never designed as a place for a museum, an office, or “public bookable facilities.” It was designed by William Davies as an orchard to produce fruit for resale. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that the steamship companies began littering this hillside orchard with unsightly, shoddily constructed, seasonal shacks in their relentless pursuit of the all mighty tourist dollar.
Time continues to march on. It’s the 21st century and we would like our parks to be a reflection of our outdoor lifestyle and not our grandparents’ vision of the great outdoors. Today the “Orchard” is a PUBLIC park; no longer a part of some corporations holdings and although the lands may have been acquired by Metro in 1983 we are still waiting to be given true access. Public parks today are by definition “people spaces” and cottages do not contribute to making spaces people friendly; they in fact have the opposite effect by creating private spaces. We are talking about the difference between spaces for the ordinary man vs. spaces for the elite. Spend 500K to restore cottages on public park land to provide a place for a select few to reside or lounge around, and you, the quintessential Canadian, will whisper “excuse me’’ as you slip quietly by trying not to disturb their privacy; spend 10% of that 500K on a playground, one with natural elements and artistic play sculptures, and you will provide hours of enjoyment and stimulation for generations of Bowen Island kids
I don’t think I have to remind anyone that we already have four “saved” cottages at the Orchard plus the caretaker’s cottage by the causeway. We also have the old general store plus few other privately and/or municipally owned cottages throughout the Cove. Surly this pays adequate homage to the steamship era. It should be obvious that as a society we cannot preserve all remnants of our past. Somewhere, sometime, someone has to take a stance and apply a measure of common sense and evaluate what is truly worthy of preservation. Are the orchard cottages currently utilized for a “true public use”? Two are rented as “overnight tourist accommodations” under a short term contact”, one, I am told, is used as a museum and the other as office space. I question whether you or I benefit from any of these current uses. Did you ever wonder when the typical Bowen Islander was last inside one of these “saved” cottages? I wonder if the typical Bowen Islander has ever been inside.
I urge Metro to adopt what they have called “Concept 1 - Open Space Focus” and return the orchard lands to the community. It’s not a perfect solution but a reasonable compromise.
Ted Evans
