Riverview's Changing Role

Colony Farm at Riverview was once a provincial showpiece and the source of almost all the food supplied to the hospital. Alas, times change and in 1983, the farm closed. There were rumours that the land would be redeveloped for a racetrack or industrial purposes. Fortunately, that's all they were. Rumours. 

In 1995, that area became a regional park and protected lands. Two years after, a state-of-the-art, 190-bed Forensic Psychiatric Hospital was built on an adjacent site.

Also in 1983, West Lawn, Essondale/Riverview's original building, closed. The population at the hospital had declined dramatically and the building was outdated.

By 1986, Riverview was actively promoting the involvement of families in patient care. There was a new family care centre in the Tuck Shop Building in 1986. 

“Any patients who would like to have their families or friends contacted, please phone Rose-Marie at local 652 or drop in 4 doors down from the Tuck Shop. This is an excellent way to allow your family to get acquainted with other patients, friends and family, to bring about a greater understanding of mental illness.” From the January 1986 Riverview Reporter, which replaced the Little Leader newsletter

After several years of consultation, the BC Government released a draft plan in 1987 for the old hospital. The report noted Riverview's buildings as 'outdated and often dilapidated' and suggested reducing the beds from 1,300 to 550 and allocating the money saved to community mental health services.

However, Riverview still had value. The acute care psychiatric units at BC Hospitals didn't have the specialized expertise in dealing with certain patients that Riverview had. So Riverview took on a new role and whenever a patient couldn't be treated in the hospital, they were transferred to Riverview.

“When I was responsible for the psychiatric programs at Vancouver General Hospital, at any point in time we had maybe 12 people waitlisted for Riverview. They either needed longer periods of treatment or they were very aggressive and difficult to manage. The same thing was true at other hospitals. The hope was that the acute care units would take all these patients and they’d never come to Riverview, but the reality was that there was a steady stream of people coming to Riverview.” 

John Higenbottam Vice-President, Clinical Services at Riverview, 1980-1992

Thanks to the PDF, Riverview, A Legacy of Care and Compassion for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill

Tragedy at Colony Farm

Colony Farm at Essondale was a thriving business into the 1940s. Farm work was seen a therapeutic and the patients would work in the fields and care for the animals. There were several teams of Clydesdale horses housed in a large arena with teamsters and dairy men. Married men lived in houses with their families and single men lived in bunks in various buildings. Everyone would gather in the huge dining room for their meals.

Those Clydesdale horses were a source of pride for all at Essondale. Maybe not everyone though. In December of 1946, a milker set a series of fires at Essondale, one of which burned the Clydesdale arena.

Essondale had its own fire department - nine full time employees and 20 volunteers - but they were no match for the determined arsonist setting the fires.

"The blaze that utterly destroyed the arena was the most tragic of all. Prideful teamsters and grooms wept as the foot-thick wooden beams burned, then collapsed. One employee and several young Clydesdale horses were lost. The Clydesdale operation was never the same again."

From Coquitlam - 100 Years.

Bob Gardner was the farm's foreman at the time. His daughter, Jenny, grew up at Essodale remembers that terrifying time.

"It was a traumatic experience. If you lived that close to fire, you never forget it. My hair turned white within a year and my dad's too. The arena was the first big fire...It was a massive, gorgeous building with huge oil paintings of the prize-winning Clydesdales and Holsteins, all the shiny harnesses, trophies and records.

As we opened our door we could see the tall tower of the arena collapsing, that's how intense the fire was. They got all the teams out by pulling them through the bull pens with wet sacks over their heads and then into the open fields. But they couldn't get to the young stock. It all happened so fast; men wearing glasses didn't even have time to put them on. One man was trapped upstairs. All the records and harnesses, everything was lost."

From Coquitlam - 100 Years.

According to a December 10, 1946 newspaper article, one man and five horses died in the fire, which left $200,000 worth of damage. Ian Ferguson was a 62-year-old teamster who ran into the fire to retrieve a suitcase full of money.

Twenty-four men were sleeping on the top floor of the two-storey building when the fire started. A farm employee, Bob Wall, was playing his radio in bed when he smelled smoke. He then saw the fire burning in the hay so he quickly woke the others and all escaped.

The farm superintendent, Peter Moore, said that if the wind had been blowing east, the fire would have spread to a nearby building housing 250 head of prize cattle.

Thanks to the PDF, Riverview, A Legacy of Care and Compassion for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill

BISCO

From 1920 to 1921, a group of five Tudor-Revival cottages were built on Essondale property. These were to house incorrigible youth. The Provincial Industrial School for Boys was the start of the provincial juvenile reformatory system. 

The school took the boys who were confined by law and saw they received an education, industrial training and moral rehabilitation. Essondale was chosen for the location because it was isolated.

The school became known as BISCO - Boys Industrial School, Coquitlam - and it made use of the medical and psychiatric care at Essondale. The boys weren't isolated from the patients and staff at the hospital. They participated in social and recreational activities on the grounds. The school had its own farm, which provided, milk, beef, veal, pork, chicken, eggs and vegetables to the school kitchen.

The Colony Farm was recognized as one of the finest farming operations by the 1920s. Most of the food for Essondale was produced through the piggery, land, dairy and cannery. The Holstein herd was the largest in BC and the cows were milked four times a day by hand thus making the milkers the majority of the workforce at Essondale.

The farm grew grain, pumpkin, turnips, celery, onions, beets, rhubarb, lettuce and corn. Fruit such as pears, peaches, apricots and apples, as well as various vegetables, were preserved in the cannery. Jam was also made in the cannery.

The Acute Psychopathic unit, Essondale's second building, opened in November of 1924. It was later known as Centre Lawn and originally held 300 beds.

Another event in November of 1924 was the arrival of Miss Van Wyck. Van Wyck was first Lady Superintendent, the first registered nurse at Essondale and the hospital's first nurse with post graduate training in mental illness.

Centre Lawn eased the overcrowding at Essondale but the women's department at the Public Hospital for the Insane in New Westminster was overflowing with female patients so plans were put in place to open a permanent Chronic Building at Essondale for those patients.

Here's a brief look at mental care in the 1920s at Essondale.

Occupation continued to be the main source of therapy, women's duties included sewing and mending of clothing and linens. Men who were too mentally ill to engage in industrial work were found work in other areas.

The most common ailment for those admitted to Essondale in 1925 was manic depression.

In 1925, 1,884 patients resided at Essondale. 73 were at home, on probation. Only 2 patients escaped. There was 475 new admissions and in total, 2,434 patients were treated. 142 died and 297 were discharged.

Thanks to the PDF, Riverview, A Legacy of Care and Compassion for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill