AWARD OF HONOUR

South Granville Centennial Project and Legacy Plaques

South Granville Business Improvement Association

In the past couple of years, the South Granville Business Improvement Area (BIA) has taken a number of initiatives to develop a better sense of awareness and understanding of their neighbourhood through history.

2007 was a centennial year for South Granville in Vancouver. The BIA organized a birthday bash to celebrate the occasion, and sponsored a special 16-page section in the Vancouver Sun. Another fun project was the placing of a Time Capsule, in the sidewalk in front of the Stanley Theatre, the heart of the district.

The BIA also launched a photo archive of 'then and now' images, which has grown to close to 1,000 photos. This bank of images keeps alive the history of South Granville and documents the changing face of the neighbourhood.

The Legacy Plaque project, completed at the end of 2008, displays a dozen street-level signs interpreting the neighbourhood along the Granville Street spine, between the Granville Street Bridge and 15th Avenue.

In their submission, the BIA offered the following rationale for the link between business, neighbourhood and heritage:

“The South Granville Business Improvement Association contends that by promoting the community and its history, a better business environment emerges by creating a strong sense of place and a uniqueness that cannot be replicated by a conventional mall or any other neighbourhood in the Province. What we have appreciated most during this project is people's affection for our neighbourhood … At a time when all we seem to discuss is the 'Walmartization' of our retail world, it is heartening to see the Stanley Theatre and independent businesses thriving on South Granville.

All of the projects – plaques, time capsule, the photographic inventory, birthday party – reinforce each other and combine to become something with a larger and long lasting value for everyone in the area.”