Showing 238 results

Authority record
City of Coquitlam Archives

ArtsConnect Tri-Cities Arts Council

  • ACTCAC-2020-01
  • Corporate body
  • 1969–

ArtsConnect Tri-Cities Arts Council is a non-profit society and regional arts council. It was originally formed in 1969 as the Coquitlam Fine Arts Council (CFAC), to promote arts and cultural activities in Coquitlam. During 1983–1991 it changed its name to the Coquitlam Area Fine Arts Council (CAFAC) when it expanded its services to Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore, and Belcarra. From 1992–2002 the organization was known as the ARC Arts Council, to reflect the Council’s role as an Arts Resource Centre. In 2003, the board changed the organization’s name to ArtsConnect.

ArtsConnect is dedicated to “connecting people through the arts.” They act as an arts resource, providing information about arts and cultural events and opportunities to the community at large. They achieve this by providing forums, workshops, professional development, and events that reflect the community’s diversity of culture, ages, and interests. Additionally, ArtsConnect fosters opportunities for artists to showcase their work at events, exhibitions and performances. ArtsConnect’s goal is to create and expand awareness of the beneficial aspects of arts and culture on the well-being of its community and advocate for arts and cultural development in the region. Throughout its history, it received funding from the Government of British Columbia, municipal grants, fundraising, membership, and donations.

Governance of ArtsConnect is overseen by a Board of Directors, responsible for the management of a Council for the purposes of achieving its objectives. The Council consists of a President, Vice-President, and a Secretary/Treasurer. The Council itself has three types of committees: an Executive Committee, Standing Committees, and Special Committees.

ArtsConnect has undertaken and sponsored many arts and cultural initiatives, including an arts resource centre and library, arts facility and program development, their Youth Matters! initiative, and provided scholarships and grants for students, individuals, and projects contributing to the literary, visual, and performing arts in the community. It held annual events, such as Works in 3D, Vernissage, Faces of the World Arts and Culture Festival and many other exhibitions and events, workshops, and educational programs. Additionally, it maintained a partnership with Tri-Cities Community TV and aired an eponymous television program that ran on the local Shaw TV channel 4.

Atkins, E.A.

  • AEA-2015-5
  • Person
  • 1842–1924

E.A. Atkins served on Council from the date of Coquitlam's incorporation in 1891 until he was elected Reeve of the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam in 1897. He held the position of Reeve until 1903. He was an original settler of the area, having been issued a Crown Land Grant for District Lot 382 in the New Westminster District on June 6th, 1883.

Atkins, R.J.C.

  • RJCA-2018-8
  • Person
  • [186-?]–1940

R.J.C. Atkins was born in Portsmouth, Ontario and migrated to British Columbia in 1892. He bought thirteen acres of land on North Road in 1905 and settled in Coquitlam. He was elected Councillor in 1911 and served on Coquitlam Council until 1914. Atkins died on August 4, 1840.

Ballard, J.L. (Jack)

  • BJL-2015-5
  • Person
  • [19-?]

Jack Ballard was elected Mayor in the election held in December 1969, following the death of L.J. Christmas in July. Ballard served as Mayor for a two-year term between 1970 and 1971.

Barth, Peter

  • BP-2016-12
  • Person
  • [18-?]–[19-?]

Peter Barth was the Accountant for the Canadian Western Lumber Company. He stood in the election for Reeve of Corporation of the District of Coquitlam following the secession of the City of Port Coquitlam in March, 1913. He defeated L. E. Marmont by a margin of 144 to 121 votes in the election held on March 29th, 1913. His victory was due to significant support in the Maillardville community. The Coquitlam Star reported that "Mr Barth is known to be a man of excellent business training and the result showed that Mr. Barth convinced the electors as to his ability." (Coquitlam Star, April 2nd, 1913) Barth served only one partial term as Reeve of the municipality.

Black, Guy

  • BG-2017-3
  • Person
  • [19-?]

Boire, Alain Joseph

  • AB-2019-7
  • Person
  • 1957–

Alain (Al) Joseph Boire (1957–) is an author, founding member and first president of the Maillardville Residents’ Association (MRA), and an active and passionate advocate for the Maillardville community.

Boire was born in Maillardville on October 15, 1957. He was raised in a French Canadian family and spent his formative years in the Maillardville community. He attended Notre Dame de Lourdes school, St. Thomas More Collegiate, École Montgomery Middle School, and Centennial School. Boire became a professional home inspector, and resided in Maillardville for most of his life.

Boire has been active in the Maillardville community in many ways. In 1981–1985, he was the Director of Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church, and during 2000–2005, Boire served as the director of Village Credit Union. Concerned with the developments in the community, Boire and a group of neighbours joined and founded the MRA in 2005, where Boire became the first president. The MRA was very active between the years of 2005 and 2011 and Boire was instrumental in starting long-standing community initiatives, such as its “Clean Up Maillardville” days, an Adopt-a-Street program, a Forum on Crime and a community website and directory. Boire was a founding member of the Maillardville Commercial and Cultural Revitalization task force committee on the MRA. Additionally, Boire joined the board of Place Maillardville Community in 2006, where he was Executive Director from 2011 to 2013.

In 2009, on behalf of the MRA, Boire completed research into the history of Maillardville for the community’s centenary. On their website they published ten short biographies each month on a specific decade in Maillardville’s history. Over the next seven years Boire intermittently returned to the project. In honour of Coquitlam’s 125th anniversary in 2016, Boire completed his research and published his book, "With Hearts and Minds: Maillardville, 100 Years of History on the West Coast of BC."

Boire was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012. In 2018, Boire and his family moved to Smiths Falls, Ontario.

Booth, Ralph

  • BR-2017-4
  • Person
  • 1841–1921

Ralph Booth was one of the original landowners in Coquitlam. He and Brehaut owned District Lot 47 and he also owned District Lot 61, which was eventually incorporated into the District of Fraser Mills in 1913. The Booth Farm house is thought to be one of the original houses in Coquitlam and was purchased by the City of Coquitlam in 2013. Booth was a dairy farmer and his farm hosted many picnics for the local residents. He served as Reeve from 1904 to 1908.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands, Forests, and Water Resources

  • LFW-2017-7
  • Corporate body
  • 1908–1975

The Dept. of Lands, Forests and Water Resources was established in 1908 under its first name, the Dept. of Lands (Department of Lands Act, SBC 1908, c. 31). Before 1908 the agencies responsible for the functions of the Dept. of Lands, Forests and Water resources were: (1) the Dept. of Lands and Works (Crown lands management, sales, pre-emptions and leases, lands surveying and mapping, timber inspection, forest protection and log scaling), and (2) the Dept. of Mines (water rights in regards to mining operations). The Dept. of Lands, headed by the Chief Commissioner of Lands, was given responsibility for public lands and water rights, and all matters connected therewith. (SBC 1908, c. 31, s. 5). These responsibilities included: (1) the management of all public lands, as per the Land Act, (RSBC 1897, c. 113); (2) administration of water rights, as per the Water Clauses Consolidation Act, (RSBC 1897, c. 191) [in 1892 by means of the Water Privileges Act (SBC 1892, c. 47), the government had reserved to itself the right to manage all water resources in the province that were unreserved and un-appropriated as of April 23, 1892]; and (3) land settlement programs for returned soldiers. In 1909, the enactment of the Water Act (SBC 1909, c. 48) resulted in the creation of the Water Rights Branch of the Dept. of Lands, under the management of the Chief Water Commissioner (re-named Comptroller of Water Rights in 1912). This legislation also resulted in the creation of Water Districts under the management of District Engineers, who would be responsible for management in the field of the Branchs responsibilities. In 1911, the Timber Department, including Timber Inspectors, forest protection services and log scaling operations, was transferred from the Dept. of Public Works to the Dept. of Lands. In 1912, the management of timber resources was formally added to the departments responsibilities with the enactment of the Forest Act (SBC 1912, c. 17). To accommodate these new responsibilities, the Forest Branch, under the Chief Forester, was created in the Dept. of Lands. In 1945, the Dept. of Lands was renamed the Dept. of Lands and Forests (Department of Lands Act Amendment Act, SBC 1945, c. 45). At this time, the department was reorganized into two branches, the Lands Service and the Forests Service. In 1962, the Dept. of Lands and Forests was renamed the Dept. of Lands, Forests, and Water Resources (Department of Lands and Forests Act Amendment Act, SBC 1962, c. 22). At this time, the department was reorganized into three branches, the B.C. Lands Service, the B.C. Forest Service, and the B.C. Water Resources Service. On December 23, 1975, the Dept. of Lands, Forests and Water Resources ceased to exist. The government established two new agencies, the Dept. of Forests and the Dept. of Environment, to replace it (OIC 3838/75). All activities associated with the forestry function were transferred to the Dept. of Forests (OIC 3849/75, 3868/75). With one minor exception, the remaining functions of the Dept. of Lands, Forests, and Water Resources were transferred to the Dept. of Environment (OIC 3843/75, 3844/75, 3846/75, 3852/75). In 1976, these organizational changes were reiterated in legislation (SBC 1976, c. 18)

British Columbia. Essondale Hospital

  • ESS-2017-5
  • Corporate body
  • 1913–1949

Riverview Hospital was a Canadian mental health facility in Coquitlam, British Columbia. It operated as the Province’s specialized psychiatric hospital from 1913 until it closed in 2012. The hospital is located on sumiqwuelu, or in Halkomelem language, the Place of the Great Blue Heron, where Kwikwetlem First Nation took shelter for thousands of years. By the beginning of the 20th century, traditional healing knowledge in the area was supplanted by settler colonial medical practice.

Riverview Hospital was operated directly by the Province, originally under the Insane Asylums Act (1873), the Mental Hospitals Act (1940), and the Mental Health Act (1964) until 1988. A re-evaluation of contemporary approaches to mental health care through the 1960s to the mid-1980s brought about change to mental health service development in British Columbia. The Province created the British Columbia Mental Health Society (BCMHS) in 1988 and gave it the task of running Riverview pursuant to provincial health legislation. The BCMHS board began as Provincially-appointed trustees but by 1992, it was replaced by a community-based board of governors. After the establishment of the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) in 2001, Riverview Hospital fell under the jurisdiction of its Mental Health & Addiction Services (now the BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services).

In 1904, the Province purchased 1,000 acres in Coquitlam for the construction of a new mental hospital (as well as Colony Farm) due to overcrowding at the Royal Hospital in Victoria and the Public Hospital for the Insane in New Westminster. Originally called the Hospital for the Mind at Mount Coquitlam, the hospital was named Essondale Hospital in honour of Dr. Henry Esson Young shortly after its opening. Young was the Provincial Secretary and Minister of Education and was responsible for establishing and managing the hospital.

The first building, West Lawn (then, the Male Chronic Wing) opened in 1913 to serve male patients. The patient population grew rapidly and soon led to more overcrowding. In 1922 the Boys’ Industrial School of Coquitlam (BISCO) opened to provide education, industrial training, and juvenile reform to boys sentenced to confinement by law. To accommodate more patients, Centre Lawn (then, the Acute Psychopathic Unit) opened in 1924. In 1930, East Lawn (then, the Female Chronic Unit) opened to ease crowding of female patients at the Public Hospital for the Insane in New Westminster.

After the First World War, more spaces for war veterans were needed in British Columbia. Thus a new Veteran's Unit opened at Essondale Hospital in 1934. In 1936, BISCO was moved; the school underwent renovation and reopened as a geriatric care unit called the Home for the Aged (later, Valleyview). This unit was administered under the Provincial Home for the Aged Act (1935). After the Second World War, veterans were moved to the Riverside unit on Colony Farm grounds. The original Veteran’s Unit expanded and became the Crease Clinic of Psychological Medicine, which opened in 1949 and operated under separate health legislation than Essondale Hospital. The Crease Clinic allowed for voluntary admission of patients who could terminate their hospitalization at will. In 1950, Essondale Hospital changed its name to Provincial Mental Hospital, Essondale. North Lawn (then, the Tuberculosis Unit) opened in 1955 to stem the spread of the tuberculosis common in the hospital's other units. By 1956 there were over 4,700 patients at the Provincial Mental Hospital, Essondale, the Crease Clinic, and the Home for the Aged combined.

In 1959 the charge of mental health services was transferred from the Provincial Secretary to the new Department of Health Services and Hospital Insurance. That year, the Valleyview geriatric care unit opened. Five years later in 1964, the British Columbia Mental Health Act was enacted. The Crease Clinic amalgamated with Essondale Provincial Mental Hospital in 1965 to function as one facility named Riverview Hospital. That same year, the Riverside unit was converted to a maximum security facility and was renamed the Forensic Psychiatric Institute.

From the 1960s to the 1980s Riverview Hospital began to face changes because of deinstitutionalization. Patient populations declined at Riverview Hospital due to a move toward outpatient care and community based centres for mental health services. Although Riverview Hospital was given formal status as a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of British Columbia in 1974, by 1981 patient population had dropped and parts of the hospital were closed and sold off to developers. In 1983, West Lawn closed and farming operations at Colony Farm were discontinued. Next followed twenty years of unit closures: Crease Clinic (1992), East Lawn (2005), North Lawn (2007), and in 2012, the last patients were moved from Centre Lawn. That year Riverview Hospital ceased its operations.

Currently, the Riverview Lands are home to three lodges where long-term intensive psychological rehabilitation is provided for individuals, administered through Fraser Health’s Mental Health network of services.

British Columbia. Lieutenant Governor

  • PBC-2017-4
  • Corporate body
  • 1871–

The Lieutenant Governor in British Columbia was established July 20, 1871.

The Lieutenant Governor is appointed by the Governor General acting by and with the advice of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. Lieutenant governors are normally appointed for a period of not less than five years. The Lieutenant Governor fulfills several roles:

Vice-Regal
Directly represents the Queen of Canada, who is the legal Head of State in British Columbia. As Vice-Regal representative, the Lieutenant Governor acts as chief public representative and has the highest ranking position in the Provincial Government.
Represents the Crown as Chief Executive Officer during state and ceremonial events;
Acts as the vice-regal host for distinguished guests to British Columbia;
Perpetuates the traditional bond between the Crown, the Canadian Forces and uniformed services across British Columbia;
Supports an ongoing relationship between the Crown and the Indigenous Peoples of British Columbia and represents Her Majesty at appropriate events and ceremonies.

Constitutional
Upholds the constitutional framework in British Columbia. In this role the Lieutenant Governor personifies the Crown, which is both the apex and the unifying link in the constitutional and political structure of the province – executive, legislative, and judicial.
Ensures the continued existence of government in the Province of British Columbia;
Selects a First Minister as Premier of the Province;
Appoints and administers the Oaths of Office, Allegiance and Confidentiality to the Premier and members of the Executive Council;
Summons, prorogues and dissolves the Legislature;
Delivers the Speech from the Throne;
Provides Royal Assent to provincial legislation;
Signs orders-in-council, proclamations and other official documents before they have the force of law;
Presents Bills by Message into the Legislature when they involve taxation or expenditure of public money.

Celebratory
Celebrates, inspires and connects British Columbians, while promoting the history, culture and achievements of the province.
Recognizes distinguished British Columbians by presenting orders, decorations and medals, including prestigious award programs that carry the name of the Lieutenant Governor
Provides personal patronage to support and encourage worthy endeavours focused on public service, philanthropy, the arts and community volunteerism
Hosts and attends celebrations and social events to connect British Columbians
Showcases the heritage, art and culture of the province while hosting members of the Royal Family, heads of state, ambassadors, consuls general and other distinguished visitors

British Columbia. Provincial Mental Health Services

  • PMHS-2017-4
  • Corporate body
  • 1950–1967; 1980–

The provision of mental health services had its beginning in October 1872 when the Royal Hospital in Victoria was designated as the first Provincial Asylum under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Secretary.

On April 1, 1950 the British Columbia Mental Health Service was formally established and various mental health activities were amalgamated including New Westminster Hospital (which became Woodlands School), Colquitz Provincial Mental Hospital for the Criminally Insane (in Victoria), Essondale (including Crease clinic) and the Home for the Aged (in Coquitlam, Vernon and Terrace).

In 1959, Mental Health Services was transferred to the Dept. of Health Services and Hospital Insurance. The name was changed in 1967 to Mental Health Branch and changed again in 1975 to Mental Health Programs. The name reverted to Mental Health Services in 1980.

Between 1959 and 1968 the positions of Director and Deputy Minister were held by the same person. In 1968 the positions were separated, with Dr. H.W. Bridge as the Director of Mental Health Services, located in Vancouver, and Dr. F.G. Tucker as the Deputy Minister, located in Victoria. In September 1971 the position of Director was terminated. The statutory obligations of the Director were assumed by the Deputy Minister.

British Columbia. Provincial Mental Hospital, Essondale

  • PMH-2017-4
  • Corporate body
  • 1950–1964

Riverview Hospital was a Canadian mental health facility in Coquitlam, British Columbia. It operated as the Province’s specialized psychiatric hospital from 1913 until it closed in 2012. The hospital is located on sumiqwuelu, or in Halkomelem language, the Place of the Great Blue Heron, where Kwikwetlem First Nation took shelter for thousands of years. By the beginning of the 20th century, traditional healing knowledge in the area was supplanted by settler colonial medical practice.

Riverview Hospital was operated directly by the Province, originally under the Insane Asylums Act (1873), the Mental Hospitals Act (1940), and the Mental Health Act (1964) until 1988. A re-evaluation of contemporary approaches to mental health care through the 1960s to the mid-1980s brought about change to mental health service development in British Columbia. The Province created the British Columbia Mental Health Society (BCMHS) in 1988 and gave it the task of running Riverview pursuant to provincial health legislation. The BCMHS board began as Provincially-appointed trustees but by 1992, it was replaced by a community-based board of governors. After the establishment of the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) in 2001, Riverview Hospital fell under the jurisdiction of its Mental Health & Addiction Services (now the BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services).

In 1904, the Province purchased 1,000 acres in Coquitlam for the construction of a new mental hospital (as well as Colony Farm) due to overcrowding at the Royal Hospital in Victoria and the Public Hospital for the Insane in New Westminster. Originally called the Hospital for the Mind at Mount Coquitlam, the hospital was named Essondale Hospital in honour of Dr. Henry Esson Young shortly after its opening. Young was the Provincial Secretary and Minister of Education and was responsible for establishing and managing the hospital.

The first building, West Lawn (then, the Male Chronic Wing) opened in 1913 to serve male patients. The patient population grew rapidly and soon led to more overcrowding. In 1922 the Boys’ Industrial School of Coquitlam (BISCO) opened to provide education, industrial training, and juvenile reform to boys sentenced to confinement by law. To accommodate more patients, Centre Lawn (then, the Acute Psychopathic Unit) opened in 1924. In 1930, East Lawn (then, the Female Chronic Unit) opened to ease crowding of female patients at the Public Hospital for the Insane in New Westminster.

After the First World War, more spaces for war veterans were needed in British Columbia. Thus a new Veteran's Unit opened at Essondale Hospital in 1934. In 1936, BISCO was moved; the school underwent renovation and reopened as a geriatric care unit called the Home for the Aged (later, Valleyview). This unit was administered under the Provincial Home for the Aged Act (1935). After the Second World War, veterans were moved to the Riverside unit on Colony Farm grounds. The original Veteran’s Unit expanded and became the Crease Clinic of Psychological Medicine, which opened in 1949 and operated under separate health legislation than Essondale Hospital. The Crease Clinic allowed for voluntary admission of patients who could terminate their hospitalization at will. In 1950, Essondale Hospital changed its name to Provincial Mental Hospital, Essondale. North Lawn (then, the Tuberculosis Unit) opened in 1955 to stem the spread of the tuberculosis common in the hospital's other units. By 1956 there were over 4,700 patients at the Provincial Mental Hospital, Essondale, the Crease Clinic, and the Home for the Aged combined.

In 1959 the charge of mental health services was transferred from the Provincial Secretary to the new Department of Health Services and Hospital Insurance. That year, the Valleyview geriatric care unit opened. Five years later in 1964, the British Columbia Mental Health Act was enacted. The Crease Clinic amalgamated with Essondale Provincial Mental Hospital in 1965 to function as one facility named Riverview Hospital. That same year, the Riverside unit was converted to a maximum security facility and was renamed the Forensic Psychiatric Institute.

From the 1960s to the 1980s Riverview Hospital began to face changes because of deinstitutionalization. Patient populations declined at Riverview Hospital due to a move toward outpatient care and community based centres for mental health services. Although Riverview Hospital was given formal status as a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of British Columbia in 1974, by 1981 patient population had dropped and parts of the hospital were closed and sold off to developers. In 1983, West Lawn closed and farming operations at Colony Farm were discontinued. Next followed twenty years of unit closures: Crease Clinic (1992), East Lawn (2005), North Lawn (2007), and in 2012, the last patients were moved from Centre Lawn. That year Riverview Hospital ceased its operations.

Currently, the Riverview Lands are home to three lodges where long-term intensive psychological rehabilitation is provided for individuals, administered through Fraser Health’s Mental Health network of services.

British Columbia. Provincial Mental Hospital, Essondale: Audio-Visual Department

  • AVD-2017-4
  • Corporate body
  • 1946–[ca. 1974]

The Audio-Visual Department at Essondale was officially established in 1947. Essondale Hospital had a single silent 35 mm film projector and sound and film projector during the 1920s and 1930s, and held weekly dances on an amplified phonograph as early as 1938. In 1940, two 35 mm sound on film projectors were installed on ward A2 in West Lawn. During this period, audio-visual equipment was largely used for patient enjoyment.

In 1946, audio-visual equipment for educational, clinical, and recreational purposes was organized at Essondale under Guy H. Walker, the head of the audio-visual department. At this time, they acquired 16mm films to show on wards for patients who could not attend films in ward A2. They also managed still projectors for slides and transparencies. In 1947, the department had three staff members and held regular picture schedules. They began collecting a 16mm library of both educational and recreational videos. Additionally, they had a phonograph record library and wired sound equipment into patient dining rooms, the lawns, and airing courts.

In 1948, the department acquired a still camera and fully-equipped darkroom for producing slides and prints. The audio-visual department began documenting all aspects of the hospital through their photography program and printed photographs in-house.

In 1953, the department moved to Pennington Hall where, for the first time, they had the advantages of an adequate auditorium for screening films. They countined programming wired music and radio across buildings and on the lawns and even extended their range out to the Riverside Unit at Colony Farm.

In 1966, the department became incorporated into the Industrial Therapy Department in order to consolidate their resources in one location. It was then known as the Audio-Visual Division.

British Columbia. Riverview Hospital

  • RH-2017-3
  • Corporate body
  • 1965–2012

Riverview Hospital was a Canadian mental health facility in Coquitlam, British Columbia. It operated as the Province’s specialized psychiatric hospital from 1913 until it closed in 2012. The hospital is located on səmiq̓wəʔelə in Halkomelem language, the Place of the Great Blue Heron, where Kwikwetlem First Nation took shelter for thousands of years. By the beginning of the 20th century, traditional healing knowledge in the area was supplanted by settler colonial medical practice.

Riverview Hospital was operated directly by the Province, originally under the Insane Asylums Act (1873), the Mental Hospitals Act (1940), and the Mental Health Act (1964) until 1988. A re-evaluation of contemporary approaches to mental health care through the 1960s to the mid-1980s brought about change to mental health service development in British Columbia. The Province created the British Columbia Mental Health Society (BCMHS) in 1988 and gave it the task of running Riverview pursuant to provincial health legislation. The BCMHS board began as Provincially-appointed trustees but by 1992, it was replaced by a community-based board of governors. After the establishment of the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) in 2001, Riverview Hospital fell under the jurisdiction of its Mental Health & Addiction Services (now the BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services).

In 1904, the Province purchased 1,000 acres in Coquitlam for the construction of a new mental hospital (as well as Colony Farm) due to overcrowding at the Royal Hospital in Victoria and the Public Hospital for the Insane in New Westminster. Originally called the Hospital for the Mind at Mount Coquitlam, the hospital was named Essondale Hospital in honour of Dr. Henry Esson Young shortly after its opening. Young was the Provincial Secretary and Minister of Education and was responsible for establishing and managing the hospital.

The first building, West Lawn (then, the Male Chronic Wing) opened in 1913 to serve male patients. The patient population grew rapidly and soon led to more overcrowding. In 1922 the Boys’ Industrial School of Coquitlam (BISCO) opened to provide education, industrial training, and juvenile reform to boys sentenced to confinement by law. To accommodate more patients, Centre Lawn (then, the Acute Psychopathic Unit) opened in 1924. In 1930, East Lawn (then, the Female Chronic Unit) opened to ease crowding of female patients at the Public Hospital for the Insane in New Westminster.

After the First World War, more spaces for war veterans were needed to meet the overcrowding and West Lawn and Centre Lawn. Thus a new Veteran's Unit opened at Essondale Hospital in 1934. In 1936, BISCO was moved; the school underwent renovation and reopened as a geriatric care unit called the Home for the Aged (later, Valleyview). This unit was administered under the Provincial Home for the Aged Act (1935). After the Second World War, veterans were moved to the Riverside unit on Colony Farm grounds. The original Veteran’s Unit expanded and became the Crease Clinic of Psychological Medicine, which opened in 1949 and operated under separate health legislation than Essondale Hospital. The Crease Clinic allowed for voluntary admission of patients who could terminate their hospitalization at will. In 1950, Essondale Hospital changed its name to Provincial Mental Hospital, Essondale. North Lawn (then, the Tuberculosis Unit) opened in 1955 to stem the spread of the tuberculosis common in the hospital's other units. By 1956 there were over 4,700 patients at the Provincial Mental Hospital, Essondale, the Crease Clinic, and the Home for the Aged combined.

In 1959 the charge of mental health services was transferred from the Provincial Secretary to the new Department of Health Services and Hospital Insurance. That year, the Valleyview geriatric care unit opened. Five years later in 1964, the British Columbia Mental Health Act was enacted. The Crease Clinic amalgamated with Essondale Provincial Mental Hospital in 1965 to function as one facility named Riverview Hospital. That same year, the Riverside unit was converted to a maximum security facility and was renamed the Forensic Psychiatric Institute.

From the 1960s to the 1980s Riverview Hospital began to face changes because of deinstitutionalization. Patient populations declined at Riverview Hospital due to a move toward outpatient care and community based centres for mental health services. Although Riverview Hospital was given formal status as a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of British Columbia in 1974, by 1981 patient population had dropped and parts of the hospital were closed and sold off to developers. In 1983, West Lawn closed and farming operations at Colony Farm were discontinued. Next followed twenty years of unit closures: Crease Clinic (1992), East Lawn (2005), North Lawn (2007), and in 2012, the last patients were moved from Centre Lawn. That year Riverview Hospital ceased its operations.

Currently, the Riverview Lands are home to three lodges where long-term intensive psychological rehabilitation is provided for individuals, administered through Fraser Health’s Mental Health network of services.

British Columbia. School of Psychiatric Nursing

  • BCSPN-2019-10
  • Corporate body
  • 1930–1973

The British Columbia School of Psychiatric Nursing was established at East Lawn, Riverview Hospital (then the Female Chronic Unit and Essondale Hospital, respectively) in 1930. It was the first training school of its kind in B.C. When the unit opened in 1930, there was an immediate need for trained psychiatric nurses. Firstly, a six-month post-graduate course was offered to train registered nurses quickly, whereupon they became supervisors for new nurses enrolled in the course. In 1931, a nursing instructor, Miss C. A. Hicks, was appointed and the School expanded from a single course to a two-year psychiatric nursing program. The first graduates from the School received their diploma in 1932. That year, the program was extended to a three-year term which continued until 1951 when it again became a two-year program.

Because of the historical gendered beliefs held by the medical profession at the time, psychiatric nurses and students were female. With roots in Victorian viewpoints on gender, women were considered to be best equipped for nursing because they were considered to possess a moral capacity and natural compassion suited to patient care. Men were initially only considered mental hospital attendants. However in 1937 the School opened its enrollment to male psychiatric nurses.

Prior to 1951, psychiatric nursing was not a regulated profession in British Columbia and students enrolled in the program were employed as civil servants. With the establishment of the Psychiatric Nurses Act (1951) graduates were bound by standards of practice and education and were not considered civil servants until the successful completion of the program.

Riverview Hospital remained the home of the School of Psychiatric Nursing until 1972. But due to a decline in patient population, the School moved to the British Columbia Institute of Technology in and was renamed the Psychiatric Nursing program. The last class from the Riverview Hospital program graduated in 1973.

Due to Provincial budget cuts in 1984, the Psychiatric Nursing program was reduced to a one-year program and moved to Douglas College, where it remains today.

Broadbridge, Richard

  • BR-2017-4
  • Person
  • [19-?]

Richard Broadbridge was a prominent Edwardian photographer who operated in Vancouver and photographed areas of British Columbia before he relocated to Australia. In 1908-1909 he operated in partnership as the Broadbridge-Bullen Photo Co. and in 1910-1911 under the name Broadbridge Commercial Photo Co. In 1912, his offices were located at 330 Homer Street in Vancouver and photographs from this time are stamped with "Broadbridge Photos."

Buchanan, Don

  • BD-2017-6
  • Person
  • 1942–2000

Long serving employee of the City of Coquitlam. Director of Planning (ca. 1969 to ca.1987). He served as the Acting Municipal Manager starting in 1988 and then Acting City Manager (when Coquitlam became a City in 1992) until ca. 1997. Buchanan Square at City Hall is named in his honour.

Burquitlam Community Association

  • BCA-2020-9
  • Corporate body
  • 1997–2021

The Burquitlam Community Association (BCA) was established in 1997 to advocate for the residents of Burquitlam and foster a strong sense of community in the area. It grew out of an effort by citizens to stop a proposed Sky Train route through the Miller Park area because of concerns over potential ecological damage to the forest and bird habitat. The BCA was instrumental in lobbying the City of Coquitlam and the RCMP to provide a satellite police station in the Burquitlam area, which was established in the Burquitlam Plaza. The group successfully advocated for the conversion of a city-owned lot at 515 Ebert Avenue into a community garden, which is now managed by the Burquitlam Community Organic Garden Society. The BCA was active in the consultation process with developers and contractors for the Millennium Line SkyTrain extension through Burquitlam. The BCA regularly organized all candidates meetings during elections to ensure the interests of Burquitlam residents were taken into account.

In 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other outstanding issues, the Board of Directors determined that the time had come to dissolve the Association. In accordance with the Societies Act, a Special General Meeting was held on May 27, 2021 and a motion was approved to officially dissolve the Association. All funds were returned to major donors and distributed to local non-profit organizations.

Burquitlam Elementary School

  • BES-2017-4
  • Corporate body
  • 1970–2003

Burquitlam Elementary School was founded in 1970 and was located at 550 Thompson Ave, Coquitlam, British Columbia. It was responsible for providing public education from preschool to Grade 7 to members of the neighbourhood of Burquitlam and also offered a daycare program and programs and services to children with special needs. Throughout its history, Burquitlam Elementary School was faced with three probable school closures (in 1979, 1984, 1987) and finally closed in 2003 due to budget cuts in the School District. Currently, the Mediated Learning Academy is housed in the old Burquitlam Elementary School building.

Burquitlam Lions Club

  • BLC-2019-4
  • Corporate body
  • 1960–2018

The Burquitlam Lions Club was established in 1960. The Club was a part of Multiple District 19, Zone H-5 of Lions Clubs International. Like all Lions Clubs worldwide, the mission of the Burquitlam Lions Club was to create and foster a spirit of understanding among all people for humanitarian needs by providing voluntary services through community involvement and international cooperation.

Every individual Lions Club establishes its own service priorities in addition to programs supported and recognized by Lions International (typically programs focusing on Sight, Hearing, Diabetes Awareness, Youth Outreach and International Understanding). But Burquitlam Lions Club also supported local initiatives, notably organizing and collecting Christmas hampers for the needy, conducting social programs for the elderly, providing music bursaries (Mary Olfield), organizing Easter egg hunts and serving food at community events, and helping local families in need with projects such as wheelchairs, ramps, lifts, educational tools, and equipment. Additionally, at the Multiple District level, they aided in supporting Camp Squamish and Camp Horizon for disabled individuals.

The Burquitlam Lions Club was also responsible for funding two care centres: the Burquitlam Lions Intermediate Care Centre (1981-2016) and L.J. Christmas Manor Seniors Home.

During its existence, the Burquitlam Lions Club met the first and third Wednesday of every month at the L.J. Christmas Manor. However, due to decreasing membership numbers, the Club dissolved on July 1, 2018.

Results 1 to 30 of 238