An old proverb says that it takes a village to raise a child, but the Squamish Historical Society (SHS) discovered the same can be true for a building.
On April 22, thanks to a combination of local businesses and community groups, the Wilkie Building was moved to a more proper foundation at its home in the West Coast Heritage Railway Park.
"The Wilkie Building was a railway tool shed, not a house that was used as the gift shop at the heritage park for its first few years of operation," explained West Coast Railway Association (WCRA) archivist Trevor Mills. "It was originally built around 1914 behind the Canadian National, now Pacific Central, the station in Vancouver. We rescued the building in 1990. It was named after Dave Wilkie, who was one of the most active railway photographers and historians from the 1940s until his passing in 1999."
The building was then donated to the SHS by the WCRA in 2010, with the idea that it would eventually become a presentation house for the history of Squamish. The SHS plans to use it as a showcase for the community's logging history.
"There currently is nothing in our community to showcase the logging aspect and it also ties into the railway theme at the park," said SHS president Bianca Peters.
Another recent addition to the railway park are the Squamish Log Books. The log books tell the story of the history of logging from the dinosaurs to the present day. Originally housed at the Loggers Sports Grounds, they were moved to the Adventure Centre during the Live at Squamish music festival last summer.
With the Wilkie Building sitting on one end of the mini-rail and the Squamish Log Books on the other, the SHS hopes to create a space to help honour Squamish's logging past. Another artifact that longtime Squamish residents also might recognize when the Wilkie Building is complete is the old downtown Rotary clock, which the SHS plans to erect beside the Wilkie Building.
Along with the old Rotary clock, the SHS plans to add skirting and a ramp on the outside, and set up displays from its archives and storage unit inside. The SHS hopes to tell the story of the community, including the pioneers, First Nations, geography and transportation of early Squamish, along with the logging heritage, Peters said.
The Squamish Log Books and the Wilkie Building are visible from the mini-rail ride but the SHS hopes to open the building to the public in the coming months.
"There will be an event to mark its move in the beginning of the summer and the public will be invited to attend," Peters said. "The SHS hopes to open the building for view of displays by the end of the summer."
Peters, who founded the SHS in 2006, said she's pleased to help bring Squamish's logging heritage to the railway park.
"The SHS is excited to have the Wilkie Building to showcase our logging heritage at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park," she said. "We look forward to acquiring other space throughout town to display other important aspects of our community's heritage, such as the Squamish First Nation and the history of Garibaldi Park, the Squamish Chief, our geography, economy, our people, transportation and other aspects."
For more information on the SHS, visit www.squamishhistory.ca.
