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September 1993 WEST VANCOUVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY Page 6 WEST VANCOUVER'S SEA WALK Reported By: Anne Vernon Guest Speaker at our last General Meeting was West Vancouver*s former Mayor and long serving Alderman, Don Lanskail. His subject was **West Vancouver*s Seawalk and other Municipal Treasures.** Don was particularly well qualified to speak on the subject as he has played such a major role in the development of the Seawalk. Don reviewed the development of the Centennial Sea Walk with an insight gained from personal involvement in the project He spoke also of the many highlights with which he was involved during his terms of office and which meant a great deal to him. Among these were - the Library extension, the Seniors’ Centre, the Golf Course (the second largest number of members in the Province!), the acquisition of Gertmde Lawson House, but the focus of his attention was the development of the Centennial Sea Walk. According to Rupert Harrison, our Honourary Archivist, people used the track of the PGE railway as a pathway along the foreshore (in operation from 1912 -1928) and continued to use the right-of-way until 1956 when rail service was resumed, under Provjncial Government control. In 1965 the community wanted to do something to celebrate the Centenary - and there was government money to help do it!! A committee was formed and various ideas put forward - a Fine Arts Centre: the restoration of Dundarave Pier: and a swimming pool were amongst them. It is interesting to note that we have all of these “goodies” now. In May of ’65 Don (who hiked all the West Van trails with his young family) thought a Sea Walk from Dundarave Pier to Cleveland Dam would be a wonderful thing for future generations. He put it to the Council but the time was not right. However, he kept at it and eventually a study was set up. In 1967 many efforts were made to get the co-operation of waterfront Owners to sell Council a margin of their land for the Sea Walk but difficulties were encountered. Council then decided to make a start and add to the Walk by stages as land became available. BC Rail and the owner of the Seastrand Apartments consented to the scheme, but David Spencer, who owned a large block of waterfront property, did not. About the Guest Speaker., Don was born in Saskatchewan of Scottish stock, his famiiy ha ving been in Canada for over 150 years. During Worid War ii he served in Europe with the Royai Corps of Signais: he obtained degrees in Arts and Law from UBC: was in private practice until 1954: was an executive in the forest industry for 30 years and, when he retired, was President and CEO of the Council of Forestry industries. During the time he spent as Alderman and then Mayor for West Vancouver he was appointed Chair of GVRD. He was the only Alderman to be made a Freeman of West Vancouver and is universally respected for his integrity and consideration. Never the less, a start was finally made on 10th October, 1967 and one block was constmcted - at a cost of $125,000. Major winter storms thrashed West Vancouver shores that year but the Sea Walk construction stood up well - unlike other parts of the sea front - and this made some opponents of the scheme change their minds!! The Walk was popular immediately it was opened and extension was demanded as soon as possible. Stage 2 (22nd-23rd Streets) was completed by May 1969, then Stage 3 (to 19th Street) by May 1971. This meant that there was almost one mile of Sea Walk in existence. There was a pause in progress during 1971-72 then steps were taken to acquire land for the overall Sea Walk from the bottom of the Capilano River up to Qeveland Dam - the park below Qeveland Dam being acquired from the Suspension Bridge owners. In 1973 theSea Walk was extended to John Lawson Park but difficulty was encountered with the owners of sea front houses further along. In Spring of 1975 Council reviewed the situation and it was proposed that they should try again to acquire waterfront property from John Lawson Park to 14th Street. Some progress was made despite continuing firm opposition from some of the waterfront owners. In 1987 David Spencer sold his properties to a David Kalke. Council first learned of the sale when Mr Kalke visited City Hall in order to obtain the necessary building permits for the high-rises he wished to build!! After a lot of quiet discussion Mr Kalke traded-off his sea front land strip for the necessary building permits. See - West Vancouver's Seawalk - Page 7