‘ Tropical wonderland’ nears half- century mark
Civic gem celebrates 45th anniversary after surviving near- death experience just fi ve years ago
Five years ago the Bloedel Conservatory looked doomed.
The Vancouver park board was facing a $ 2.8- million budget shortfall and voted to shut the civic icon, which was built in 1969 and looked its age.
But the public was outraged and rallied to save the “tropical wonderland” at the top of Little Mountain. The Friends of Bloedel Conservatory staged fundraisers, VanDusen Botanical Garden signed on to to help run it, and the park board agreed to keep it open.
This summer, workers installed 1,488 new Plexiglas panels in the roof, a $ 2.7- million undertaking that gives the conservatory a whole new lease on life. The masses get a chance to check it out today when the conservatory celebrates its 45th birthday with a free day for the public.
There will be a steel band, Hawaiian dancers, face painting and Scandinavian Christmas gnomes named Svend and Jens. But the real entertainment will be just walking around inside the glass dome, checking out the 500 varieties of plants and 170 species of birds. The event goes from 10 a. m. to 4 p. m.
“It’ll be a fun day, a celebration of an iconic ( building),” promises John Coupar, the new park board chairman.
“I call it a horticultural architectural natural green jewel at the pinnacle of Vancouver.”
Coupar should know — his family has been involved with the conservatory since Day 1.
“My father ( Charles) was the first director of the conservatory,” he relates. “He ran the nursery, the tree farm and the conservatory. He was very well- read, and knew the Latin name of every plant I ever saw. He had a real passion for horticulture.”
The conservatory was conceived in 1966 when the park board received a $ 1- million grant from lumber magnate Prentice Bloedel of MacMillan Bloedel fame.
“To replace this facility today would be $ 55 million,” Coupar said. “Not only did he gift us the conservatory, he gifted the iconic ( Henry Moore sculpture) Knife Edge outside, which is the most significant piece of public art we have in the city.
“There’s three of those in the world: one here, one at the Rockefeller estate in New York and one ( outside) the House of Lords in London. So it’s a very prominent piece, and a great gift to the city.”
The original plan was to have both a conservatory and a “forest hall” in a separate building, but the forest hall was dropped when costs went up. In the end, the conservatory cost $ 1.4 million to build.
The design was a “triodetic dome,” which is basically half a geodesic dome.
“It’s called a triodetic dome because of the patented fastening system at the centre of each of the hubs,” Coupar explains.
“That was a Canadian invention. They still build these around the world, the company still exists.”
The seven- storey dome went up at the highest point in the city, 501 feet above sea level. Part of it covered the city reservoir, which had been open to the air until then.
The design was by local architect Herb Wilson, but the behind- the- scenes force in the project was the park board’s deputy superintendent Bill Livingstone.
“He was the one who reached out to Prentice Bloedel and secured the donation,” said Coupar.
“He was the vision behind it. Bill Livingstone was a real landscape genius. He designed Queen Elizabeth Park, VanDusen Botanical Garden, Vanier Park, the miniature railway in Stanley Park. He was a real legend in terms of landscaping in Vancouver.”
In 1966 Livingstone and Wilson took a three- week trip to “leading European and American conservatories and enclosed botanical exhibits” to check out ideas for the conservatory. Livingstone was particularly impressed with the Bird House at the Bronx Zoo in New York.
“Architect Herb Wilson and myself came away convinced that animated displays are best for holding interest,” Livingstone told The Sun on June 9, 1966. “We must avoid the museum style of static exhibit.”
Thus the jungle of plants gained its birds, which have become one of the main attractions.
“Just about all the birds here are rescued,” said Coupar.
“We work with Greyhaven bird sanctuary ( in Surrey). People often obtain these birds as pets, but they’re not always aware that they live a long life.
“Sometimes their circumstances change, so ( the birds) need to find a home. ( But) I think the birds that end up here are pretty happy campers; it’s a beautiful spot to be.”
Casey the yellow- headed Amazon parrot certainly thinks so. The 52- year- old bird was introduced to visitors this week by park board employee Anages Romses, who had Casey on one shoulder and Nelson, a Hahn’s dwarf macaw, on the other.
Visitors this Saturday may also come across the gorgeous green winged macaws Carmen and Maria, or the blue and yellow macaw Art.
“He’s a bit of a ladies man, Art,” said Coupar.
“He loves long- haired blond women. He’ll put on quite a show. All the birds have a personality. Art likes to roam, sometimes he’ll walk around if he wants to say hello.”
Birds like this helped make the conservatory a huge hit out of the box. The Bloedel Conservatory drew 11,000 people on opening day, and 500,000 people the first year. Unfortunately attendance dwindled over the years, going as low as 60,000 in 2006.
But it’s rebounded since a new visitor centre opened in 2012. Attendance topped 200,000 last year, with 94,000 people attending the seasonal Festival of Lights.
John Coupar is proud to be part of the Bloedel’s resurrection. Forty- five years later, it remains a special place for Vancouverites.
“There are lots of people who come up to contemplate, people come up to draw,” he said.
“This has all the qualities of a healing garden: large foliage, gently moving water, and nonthreatening wildlife.
“Oftentimes people who are recovering from cancer or are having some difficulty will come up here. You’re breathing really pure oxygen in here, it’s just a natural high. If you just sit and relax and breathe deeply, you can’t help but feel better when you walk out of this place.”