Riverview Goes Hollywood

Riverview, with its elegant, somewhat spooky buildings is a great draw for the movie industry. Especially the imposing stone building known as Crease Clinic. It was officially closed in 1992, but many productions have given it new life.

The dignity of the clinic and those with mental illness is protected by Riverview by prohibiting sex scenes to be filmed in the abandoned clinic or any story line which may reflect badly on those with mental illness. The building has been used as apartments, office buildings, jails and police stations. Renting this building out helps to cover the costs of maintaining this heritage building.

Commercials, movies and TV shows have used Crease Clinic in their productions. Maybe you've even seen it in one of these popular shows.

Along Came a Spider 
Battlestar Galactica 
Elf 
Juno 
Scooby Doo 
Smallville 
Supernatural 
The X-Files 
Watchmen

As I've mentioned before, the lands of Riverview have great significance. Not only for their heritage value but also aesthetic appeal.

“Riverview’s sense of place is derived in part from the physical aspects of its layered history. This is seen in the monumental buildings contrasted with the residential cottages, the curving roads and driveways, the views, the sweeping open spaces, the vegetation and the sheer size of the grounds. It is also derived from a sense of the past, in which the imagination can set people and activities within the open spaces. There is a sense of mystery about the place, which compels a sense of wonder and a questioning attitude.”
From Riverview Lands Cultural Landscape History 
Denise Cook Design, May 2007

There are many people who cared for the lands on Riverview and whose hard work have made it the beautiful place it is today. That included patients. Remember, it was considered therapy to have the mentally ill work with nature.

“Along with a small number of gardeners, they were the ones who cleared the land of rocks and stones, then built walks with the stone, so that the undulating lawns and majestic trees could be planted. Until recent years, they tended all the plants and weeded the lawns, taking great pride in the beauty they were helping to create. Without their dedicated labour, there would be no Riverview lands as we know them today.”

From The Riverview Lands: Western Canada’s First Botanical Garden,
edited by Val Adolph and Brenda Guild Gillespie

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

1936

1936 marked Vancouver's Golden Jubilee. We had now been in existence for fifty years. The new city hall opened that year and the Vancouver Historical Society was founded.

On January 20 King George V died. All radio stations in Vancouver went off the air as a sign of respect and a memorial service was held on January 28 at Malkin Bowl.

Mount Seymour Provincial Park opened on January 31, 1936. At that time it was 274 hectares - now it expands over a region of 3508 hectares. Interesting note. During World War II, conscientious objectors were put to work building a road up to the developing ski area. Now we allow our objectors to camp out on public property and damage the area.

February 22, 1936 was when the Seaforth Highlanders Regimental Band was formed in Vancouver.

In March the provincial government responded to a vote held by Vancouver citizens in December of 1935. The government amended the city's charter and abolished the city's ward system.

Former mayor and currently an alderman, Charles Edward Tisdal1 died in office on March 17. He was 69 years old.

Ten days later a shipbuilder by the name of George Emery Cates died in Vancouver. Cates came to Vancouver in 1896 from Maine and started Cates Shipyards. He was responsible for building the 500 ton steamship Britannia, Klondike scows and a 500 horsepower electric plant.

On April 25 Charles Woodward, retailer, predicted that within "40, at the outside 50, years Vancouver will be the largest city in Canada."

The founder of the Vancouver Sun, Robert James Cromie, died in Victoria on May 11, 1936.

On May 24 the civic Golden Jubilee celebrations began.

On July 2 Mayor Gerry McGeer laid the cornerstone for the new city hall.

On July 4 there was some cricket news. Hollywood XI visited Vancouver - Vancouver had  visited Hollywood the previous year. The two teams met at Brockton Point and among the cricket players from south of the border were Errol Flynn, Boris Karloff and  Aubrey Smith.

July 6 was a day for technology. Telegraph wires linked Vancouver to London, England.

On July 18, a Chinese Carnival Village opened at Pender and Carrall streets which was Chinatown's participation in the Golden Jubilee. (I was at the Chinatown Festival this summer which was right in that area.)

On July 21 the main peak at Mt.Waddington was conquered by climbers Wiessner and House.

A giant in Canadian music, Sir Ernest MacMillan visited Vancouver on August 12 to be a guest conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. MacMillan was the first guest conductor the VSO had ever had and Sir Ernest was a popular and busy man. He was also the first person to ever be knighted outside the UK for contributions to music.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Golden Jubilee, Vancouver, Errol Flynn, Boris Karloff, VSO, History, Sir Ernest MacMillan