On Sunday, August 18th, join Heritage Vancouver for a walking tour through Mount Pleasant, one of Vancouver’s original neighbourhoods. Number one on Heritage Vancouver’s Top10 Watch List site for 2019, it is an area under threat of losing its valuable heritage qualities.
Intersected by the commercial high streets of Broadway, Main and Kingsway, the old Mount Pleasant village (the “Heritage Heart”) has been the hub of the neighbourhood ever since it first developed in the 1880s. Pedestrian-friendly and human-scale streetscapes are lined with independent stores and restaurants that lend this commercial area of Mount Pleasant a welcoming, interesting, and vibrant village atmosphere. Many of the heritage buildings from the neighbourhood’s streetcar era still exist and, alongside others from the early and mid-twentieth century, they continue to provide affordable housing, artist studios, and commercial spaces for a wide variety of community groups and local businesses. The area is a complete neighbourhood and is clearly distinct from the rest of the city. However, the forthcoming subway, new transit station at Main and Broadway and accompanying development may put this in jeopardy.
Mount Pleasant-based historical researcher, writer, and photographer Christine Hagemoen will lead this tour focusing on the “Heritage Heart” area of Mount Pleasant, discussing the history of the neighbourhood as well as the challenges it faces from the Broadway Plan. We will end with a Q&A session before going to a local brewery for those who are interested. Join us on August 18th for what promises to be an amazing tour about one of Vancouver’s most vibrant and vital neighbourhoods.
