Metro Vancouver to decide fate of Bowen Island cottages
Some of the windows are boarded up and the roofs tattered, but Don Youngson remembers the day when the cottages at Bowen Island’s Snug Cove were a tourist mecca for hordes of summer visitors and corporate picnickers.
When he was a boy, there were 100 “Davies Orchard Cottages” rather than just the 10 today. But as Metro Vancouver envisions a new plan for the 2.3-acre site in Snug Cove next to the island’s ferry terminal, Youngson and other Bowen Islanders worry this final remnant of this island’s heyday could be wiped out.
“They’re the last physical vestige to the history of Bowen Island,” Youngson said. “What they represent is the glory days of Bowen Island and the fact that it was a major attraction.”
The battle to save the cottages has been brewing for some time, but is expected to come to a head this fall when Metro Vancouver puts forward its plan to provide more public access to Crippen Regional Park, which it owns. The move is similar to efforts in Belcarra, where Metro wants to open up foreshore to the public, but is facing the wrath of residents who want to save seven rustic cottages — some of them inhabited.
Metro’s regional parks system covers a total of 14,500 hectares, and includes 23 regional parks, three regional park reserves, two ecological conservancy areas and five regional greenways.
The regional district will hold a public meeting in Belcarra next week, with an open house set for Bowen in September.
Melissa Harrison, of the Bowen Island Heritage Preservation Association, is prepared for the worst, noting a review of the Metro parks mandate last year has left the board struggling to balance heritage and public access, leaving places such as Bowen in an “odd limbo.”
Metro has scores of heritage buildings in its regional parks, with 14 of those on Bowen, Harrison said. Four of the Bowen cottages have been upgraded, with two furnished in 1940s style and rented out for short-term stays, while two others are used as a museum and office for Bowen Heritage. Six are in poor condition and are not accessible.
Harrison said with love and care, the cottages could be turned into artists’ retreats or interpretive centres. Bowen’s Official Community Plan, which guides development, also suggests the cabins be used for civic, community or arts and crafts studios, which could include residences for the artisan and retail sales space.
“Ultimately, I’d like to see them brought into use. This property is right in the heart of Snug Cove,” Harrison said, adding community members are willing to pitch in. “There’s so much volunteer interest on the island to grab a paintbrush and do something to them. Even people from off the island have warm feelings for the cottages. They remember staying in them when they were young.”
A Metro report said while the cottages play an important role in Bowen Island’s Snug Cove heritage precinct, “the deteriorating condition of the cottages, lack of clearly defined program, and relative seclusion from the rest of the Snug Cove Area has led to underuse as well as concerns with site safety.”
Metro is assessing the condition of the 10 cottages and how they will fit into the park plan. Jeff Fitzpatrick, division director of Metro parks, noted Metro is open to ideas, but wants to stay true to its mandate to “protect the natural environment and connect people to it.”
An estimated 11 million people visit the parks each year, and Metro argues with another million people coming to the region by 2040, it needs more space to accommodate them.
“We’re looking for opportunities to improve public access and better integrate with (Crippen Regional Park) while celebrating the heritage of this area,” Fitzpatrick said. “Every park is different and unique. We’re looking to the site as a whole and the best way forward.”
Belcarra Mayor Ralph Drew said both the island and Belcarra residents have been battling for years with Metro over the preservation of their cottages. He wouldn’t say whether the cottages should stay or go, but noted most don’t meet safety standards.
“While they might be funky in their own way, it’s a stretch to call them heritage,” he said. “It’s the same at Belcarra. If the municipality halfway enforced their bylaws, they would all be shut down.”
Youngson, who used to attend corporate picnics with his father, hopes this doesn’t happen. In the summer season of 1946, he said, 101,000 visitors from Vancouver visited the island when the city’s population was only 365,000.
“People are panicking that we’re just going to become a suburb of West Vancouver,” he said. “These maintain a sense of where our roots are from.”
While they might be funky in their own way, it’s a stretch to call them heritage. RALPH DREW, mayor of Belcarra