Visitors to North Vancouver’s Park & Tilford Gardens in recent months might have noticed the absence of one of the space’s most prominent features.
In November, crews removed the brick colonnade – a series of pillars and trellises that encircled the inner garden – after it was found to be rotten and structurally unsound, with raccoons nesting inside.
For heritage advocates, it's a move that is raising questions about the future of the 55-year-old garden, which is showing its age. In March, North Shore Heritage president Jennifer Clay wrote to City of North Vancouver council about the deteriorating state of the garden’s infrastructure.
“It’s an important heritage asset from its cultural, landscape, and built features, so it’s kind of unique,” Clay said. “The citizens of the past took great care to put this in place, and it’s there for everyone to use. And I think the public should not let something like this heritage, historical, beautiful asset die.”
The history of Park & Tilford Gardens
Before any discussion about the future of the unique site, though, it helps to understand its past.
Long before the property was the strip mall and garden we know today, it was the sprawling Park and Tilford Distillery.
Wanting to beautify a piece of the property for promotional purposes, executives hired famed landscape architect Harry Webb to design a 1.2-hectare garden with themed areas, open for the public to visit. In 1969, the garden was officially dedicated, drawing in more than 100,000 people per year.
The distillery, however, closed in 1984 and moved to Montreal. The gardens withered and many of its built features fell victim to vandalism and theft.
In 1986, BCE Development Corp. bought the site with plans to redevelop it into the shopping centre we know today. One of the conditions of that rezoning was a promise to restore and reopen the gardens with a covenant on title requiring that it remain open to the public for free and that its features “be maintained and repaired as required.”
The story goes that former city councillor Stella Jo Dean hobbled to municipal hall from Lions Gate Hospital on a broken ankle to cast the tie-breaking vote.
“The city had the foresight to say, 'Yes, we will rezone this property where you want to have the shopping mall in return for you retaining the garden and making it a public resource,'” Clay said.
At the time, it was decided that the privately owned but publicly accessible amenity would be overseen by a garden review board including two representatives of the property owner, two from the City of North Vancouver and one member at large.
Today’s owner of the site, BentallGreenOak, employs a full-time manager at the garden. And Friends of the Garden Society volunteers get dirt under their fingernails every Thursday morning helping to tend its plants.
Garden is showing its age
But time and the elements will have their way with wood, metal and masonry. In her letter to City of North Vancouver council in March, Clay listed a number of concerns North Shore Heritage has with the state of Park & Tilford Gardens: the demolition of the colonnade, tiles falling off the Japanese Garden wall, algae growing over wooden surfaces, brick walls with deteriorating mortar, other surfaces needing a fresh coat of protective paint, broken windows in the greenhouse, and several of the fountains appearing “unused, in disrepair or abandoned.”
“I think what’s happened is this has just caught up with them. Year after year after year of minimal maintenance, then the big deterioration starts. We live in a rainforest,” Clay said.
People on the North Shore feel an attachment to the garden, Clay said. It’s been the site of countless family gatherings and wedding photos. And as the city has grown and densified, the green space has only become more important “for sanity breaks, for birds, for wildlife that’s been displaced from elsewhere to use,” she said.
“I am particularly fond of the gardens. I spent a lot of time down there when I was on maternity leave,” she said. “That’s where my daughter did her graduation photos.”
Advocate calls for new agreement to protect garden
Today, all that runs along the top of the former colonnade is wiring conduit. No one would have their graduation photos taken with that in the background, Clay said.
Touring the garden in May, Clay acknowledged that some repairs are being made, but she said it appears to only ever be done on an ad-hoc basis. And, although the gardens are on the City of North Vancouver’s registry of known heritage assets, they don’t have the legal protection offered by full heritage designation status.
It’s entirely possible the old covenant has outlived its usefulness, Clay said, and that the city and BentallGreenOak should negotiate a new agreement with the garden’s best interests in mind.
“I just think the relevant parties need to sit down and come up with a long-term plan, both in terms of action items and financial responsibility,” she said. “I just want to see the gardens back the way they were, say, 10 years ago.”
Ann Pentland, who has been a volunteer with the Friends of the Garden Society for more than 35 years, said she has seen the garden go through many changes over the years.
“I just love this garden. I’ve been a part of it for so long, since the beginning,” she said. “Now that I’ve retired, I spend more time down here than at home.”
What hasn’t changed, though, is the dedication of the volunteers who work with what they have to make beautiful experiences for visitors, she said. A look inside the greenhouse now offers a preview of what’s to come.
“It is packed to the hilts with annuals. It’s the biggest it’s ever been here. And this place is going to just explode this summer with colour,” she said. “It’s going to be amazing.”
Clay said she hasn’t had any response from the city since sending her letter in March.
No one from BentallGreenOak acknowledged requests for comment from the North Shore News.
City of North Vancouver responds
In a statement, City of North Vancouver staff said the municipality is working with BentallGreenOak to develop a restoration plan for the colonnade and that the company is responsible for maintaining the gardens and ensuring they remain open and accessible to the public, as guided by the land covenant. City staff have determined they currently meet the intent of the covenant, according to the statement.
Mayor Linda Buchanan, who is a member of the garden review board, did not make herself available for comment on the story, however she did release a statement.
“The Park & Tilford Gardens have long been a cherished green space valued by residents, visitors and council. The city is working with BentallGreenOak to ensure it remains a well-maintained and serene place for people to enjoy. Council is committed to spaces such as the Park & Tilford Gardens as they bring people together, enhance access to nature, and enable residents to connect with local history.”
[email protected]
twitter.com/brentrichter
brentrichter.bsky.social
Want to stay updated on North Vancouver and West Vancouver news? Sign up for our free daily newsletter.
