Mar
10
By Ted Ross
Then
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| Image C-08606 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum and Archives |
Let's continue our trip down the history of Elliott Street.
Several totem poles were erected in 1940 on the grassy area west of Douglas between Elliott and Belleville. They were part of the Provincial Museum's collection, coming from different areas of the coast. They were a popular attraction, but it became obvious by 1951 the poles were deteriorating from decay and exposure.
The Islander of February 1, 1987, writing on Thunderbird Park's history relates, "To maintain the park as a showcase for northwest coast Indian art, the Provincial Museum embarked on a program to replace those weathered poles with replicas."
"Museum officials decided to employ skilled Indian artists to carve exact copies of these old poles and of others in the museum's collection. The new poles would be erected outdoors in Thunderbird Park and the originals housed indoors in a climate suitable for their preservation. By employing native craftsmen, the museum hoped to preserve the art of carving totem poles, a skill that had almost disappeared."
"The following year (1952), the Totem Pole Preservation Program was initiated and Mungo Martin was named chief carver. Martin, and his son David, began to carve replacement poles working in public view in an open building in the park."
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| Image A-05480 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum and Archives |
"The big house, or long house, was erected in 1953 and was patterned after a much larger building that once stood at Fort Rupert (northern Vancouver Island), Martin's home town. Its construction style, with carved house posts, adzed beams and planks and painted house front, harkened back to earlier generations when such buildings were in use throughout the northwest coast."
Between 1949 and 1951, the Douglas Building was constructed between Elliott and Superior on Government. Along Government there were provincial offices and a taxi stand previous to the construction. Elliott had government offices on the stretch the new building would occupy. Along Superior, however, several houses and a small apartment block were displaced.
The Douglas Building would be the centre of government business. Located immediately across Government Street from the Parliament Buildings, it would house and heat the many government offices, both in the new building and in the Legislature across the street. The Parliament Buildings' heating plant was removed with the new source of heat available. Tunnels connect the Douglas Building to the Legislature.
The Victoria Heritage Foundation in its Description of Historic Places states, "The Douglas Building is a massive U-shaped, four-storey plus lower level masonry structure, located facing Government Street, at the corner of Superior Street, across from the Legislative Buildings. A heating plant, with a tall chimney stack, is located to the rear. This monumental structure is a prominent landmark within the Legislative Precinct, in the historic James Bay neighbourhood of Victoria."
A 1951 archival photo taken along Elliott Street, across from the new building, shows a government parking lot filled with cars from the 1940s and 50s with the Legislature in the distance.
Now
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| Photograph by Bob Tuomi |
In 1963 Premier W.A.C. Bennett chose British Columbia's Canadian centennial project to be construction of a new provincial Museum and Archives. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother dedicated the cornerstone for the new project in 1966, right on Elliott Street! The street was truncated by the construction. The cutoff road became Elliott Street Square, running from Douglas to the Helmcken House site. An archives photo of that house taken 1967 shows the museum under construction in the immediate background. The B.C. Museum moved to its new quarters in 1968. Later the IMAX theatre was added on the site of Governor Douglas' house.
In 1974 the museum moved a structure from St. Ann's Academy to a spot just across Elliott Street Square from the Helmcken House. This little building, constructed in the Quebec style, had started life in Fort Victoria. In 1855 it was purchased by the Church from its owner and set up to be a school at St. Ann's Convent. The Sisters of St. Ann began their teaching in 1858. Now, with the Helmcken House, the old school is one of the Museum's attractions on Elliott Street Square. The square itself has been cut off from road access to Douglas Street. Lawns, trees, gardens and brickwork enclose the square in an attractive setting. No motor vehicles enter this area now; it's strictly footpaths.
Interestingly enough, B.C. Transit's AVA (automatic voice announcement) system calls out 'Elliott Street Square' when the bus travels northbound past The Glenshiel. But there is only a walkway. No street is to be seen today!
Bibliography
Beacon Hill Park History, "Chapter One: 1842," by Janis Ringuette, 2004; Vancouver Island Book of Everything by Peter Grant, "First Impressions," p 67, 2015; Daily Colonist 1925, "The Sir James Douglas Estate," by "The Ferret"; The Beaver, December 1942, "The Douglas House;" Daily Colonist, June 20, 1927, "Ghost Garden Breathes Memories," by Katherine Hale; Wikipedia, "James Douglas (governor)," 2015; The Beaver, December 1943, "The House of Ghosts," by Corday MacKay; The Daily Colonist, Sunday, July 28, 1957,"Pioneer Doctor," by Rachel Large; Daily Colonist, Thurs. Dec. 25, 1952, "Wedding Important to B.C. History Took Place Nearly 100 Years Ago," by James K. Nesbitt; The Daily Colonist, May 13, 1962, "The Widow's Ball," by James K. Nesbitt; The New Islander, November 9, 1997, "Doctor Heal-my-skin," by Danda Humphreys; UVIC Library, Featured Collections and Initiatives, "Insurance Plan of Victoria, British Columbia, 1903, revised to 1909," & "Insurance Plans of Victoria, British Columbia Vol. 1, 1911, revised 1913;" Vancouver Public Library, City Directories, 1860-1955; Wikipedia, "James Bay, Greater Victoria," 2015; B.C. Archives, various photos; Islander Magazine, Sunday, February 1, 1987, "Legacy of genius; Thunderbird Park and its three generations of carvers," by Kathryn Bridge; Victoria Heritage Foundation, Heritage Register, James Bay, "606 Douglas Street - Criterion Hotel; Glenshiel Inn," 2010; Ministry of Forests and Range and Minister responsible for Housing, "Glenshiel's 100th Anniversary Celebrated in Victoria," May 28, 2008; The Glenshiel, "Our History," 2015; Victoria Heritage Foundation, Heritage Register, James Bay, "615-17 Government Street - Douglas Building,"2013; Royal B.C. Museum, "Museum History," 2015.