Dear Editor:
We have been encouraged by the support expressed by City of North Vancouver mayor and council for our call to save the facade and entrance driveway of the North Vancouver General Hospital on 13th Street (now known as Lions Gate Hospital’s Activation Building and currently listed as a “primary” heritage building on the city’s heritage register.)
As with the successful efforts to retain Ridgeway and Queen Mary schools, we believe that co-operation between the different levels of government will be vital to saving this important part of our community’s heritage.
Council has urged North Shore Heritage to approach provincial authorities.
In 2011, we had, in fact, received letters back from: Premier Christy Clark; Assistant Deputy Minister of Health Manjit Sidhu; and Ralph Sultan, MLA and are contacting provincial authorities again.
However, we firmly believe that preserving our heritage is the responsibility of all levels of government, and that the community’s interests are best served when various levels work together, with community groups, to find a solution.
This happened successfully with Ridgeway and Queen Mary, when the provincial government, North Vancouver School District and the City of North Vancouver came together to work out a solution that did not sacrifice any funding for education.
As with these two schools, we hope a constructive and creative solution for North Vancouver General Hospital can be found.
We encourage the city to play a proactive role in exploring, developing and enabling a solution that would allow this handsome and unique historical legacy to be preserved for the generations that follow.
Peter Miller, president North Shore Heritage Preservation Society
What are your thoughts? Send us a letter via email by clicking here or post a comment below.
