A locally infamous 1992 column in The Vancouver Sun, written by Nicole Parton was titled “So much potential, but such a dump.”
It summed up how some — perhaps many — saw the district at the time.
“Squamish has such huge potential, if only it would get its act together,” Parton wrote. “Even decrepit Britannia Beach has more identity and appeal than Squamish.”
At the time, Whistler was seen as the shining star of the Sea to Sky Corridor galaxy and Squamish was the embarrassing space garbage.
It can be argued our town was actually never a dump at all, but quaint and its people less concerned with man-made beauty than with the values of hard work, community, the outdoors and family — but we can likely all agree most outsiders didn’t see us that way.
In the piece, the blunt Parton bemoans the poor condition of Squamish hotels, motels, and eateries.
“It is sorry beyond belief when the best restaurant in town is a dead heat between McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken,” she wrote, adding the town lacked anything much for tourists to do, thus they drove on by.
How far we have come. Squamish is now a tourist mecca with the Sea to Sky Gondola drawing thousands and new restaurants and tourist spots popping up monthly, it seems. While Parton suggested the town highlight its logging history — and we have and should— few could have predicted the rise in global popularity of Squamish as a biking, climbing and kitesurfing location. Or our blossoming as a rec tech hub.
For those in town who arrived more recently, the column also goes a long way to explaining why some “old timers” here are hell bent on saying “Yes!” to every shiny development we are offered. Some are still trying to prove we aren’t “a dump” without realizing we haven’t been thought of that way for a long time.
Not to say that more beautification here isn’t a good idea — our outdoor mall areas for example look a bit dated, to be sure.
But we can take a collective breath to realize we aren’t Whistler’s ugly sibling anymore. We can set the course of our future confident in what we have to offer, unparallelled outdoor adventure, a tight-knit and caring community with a burgeoning art and culture scene, to name just a few of our positive characteristics.
And, by the way, Parton (now Fisher) loves what we have become.
“Squamish is now fabulous,” she told The Chief this week. “The changes are great. Far-sighted councils and hard-working residents have clearly turned the town from a ‘dump’ to a beauty spot. I’m so pleased.”
So are we.
