Public Perspective Sought on the Capital Regional District’s Growth Strategy

 

James Bay Then & Now – January 2010

 

Feel Superior at The Superior

Image Credit:  Maralina at flickr.com

Reprinted with the kind permission of HeedTheHedonist.com

 

For the third in our four-part “Victoria’s Secret” series, ’twas a damp, overcast Wednesday night when your Hedonista and Ronaldo  – a.k.a. “Cornichon” – bedecked in vintage attire and traipsed over to The Superior, jonesin’ to catch a film noir flick.

Although naught but a few blocks from the main tourist attractions of Victoria – the Fairmont Empress, the Royal British Columbia Museum, the British Columbia Parliament Buildings, the Pacific Undersea Gardens, the Royal London Wax Museum, and the Hotel Grand Pacific – lies the lovely neighbourhood of James Bay. Located on the south side of Inner Harbour, James Bay is a rare jewel: it makes up the oldest residential neighbourhood (north of San Francisco) on the North American West Coast. It is here that we found yet another treasure….

HEDONISTA: Ever since I first tried this wonderfully whimsical  place, I’m now happy to say that I’m as close to a regular as one who now lives in Seattle can be. A small plates eatery with a focus on small local food producers and BC beer and wine, The Superior supports local artists and musicians. From the peaceful patio to the always-interesting interior, The Superior – which opened in October 2005 – is all about the ambiance. In fact, the entire restaurant serves as owner Lisa Boehme’s own personal canvas, which she redesigns seasonally (or whenever the mood takes her). Her goal as an artist and visionary: to challenge people to think outside of the box, to change the way one thinks and, by doing so, to make the world a better place.

Much like the interior and exterior, the menu at The Superior Café is also a blank canvas; for, here, art is food and food is art. Not over the top, mind you – just good, creative-yet-simple small bites served up with an artistic eye. They do weekend brunches (10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.) and evening meals Tuesday through Sunday (5:00 p.m. ’til “late”). (They don’t currently do lunches.) They do offer a “soup of the moment.” And their menu changes up weekly. In the evenings they host art and cultural events, be they movies, music, or even dating games.

That night – in my crushed black velvet dress, black stockings and patent leather Mary Jane-heeled shoes tied with black ribbons – we enjoyed the 1941 flick The Maltese Falcon – complemented by their version of a Cosmopolitan, sans rose: white cranberry juice, cointreau & vodka, served up with a lime wedge. Very nice – think gin & tonic meets lemonade…. Their noshies are very pleasant – their root chips, for example, get on like a house on fire with their beer, wine, and spirits  … not to mention their film noir (think a creatively classy alternative to the traditional movie fare of potato chips and popcorn).

RONALDO: Film Noir night at a cafe just off the Inner Harbour called The Superior. Film noir as in Bogie. It’s been almost three-score years and ten since the great writer-director John Huston and his gang of players (Bogie, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre) launched their concept: hard-driving, fast-talking, high-contrast urban adventures. Guns, dames, cigarettes, booze. Quick cuts interspersed with long, long takes. Actors who created dark characters; scripts that told a dark story.

Thus does Cornichon find himself, of a Wednesday evening, in ascot & leather jacket, watching the iconic Maltese Falcon. Best supporting actor for Greenstreet in his first movie. Bogie misquoting Shakespeare (“The stuff dreams are made of”) as the elevator takes Mary Astor away.

Lights up and The Superior’s owner, Lisa Boehme, appears. We recognize her, don’t we? From Toulouse-Lautrec’s sketches of Paris nightlife. Superior’s lofty space across from Fisherman’s Wharf Park was built as a gathering spot for under-age, off-duty seafarers; later it became a Unitarian church. Now it’s an arty restaurant, an eclectic performance venue and unofficial community center. Hundreds of shoes festoon a tree in the courtyard: a fundraiser for battered women, an expression of Lisa’s open-hearted, California-girl, earth-mother personality. There’s food and drink here nightly, as well as a popular weekend brunch. Organic, of course. A “culinary artist” named Torin Egan’s in charge of the kitchen. But the spirit of the place comes from Lisa, self-described “visionary,” who has the creativity to keep all the wheels spinning without going off the tracks.

(Want to feel Superior? Try this unique gem, and you will.)

James Bay Then & Now – Medana/Medina – the name’s the same

 

 

Danda’s Delightful New Book!

 

Danda Humphreys, one of our talented writers in the neighborhood and a well-known local historian, offers a wonderful new book, Tour Guide Tales, a perfect gift for the globetrotter who’s long on digital photos and short on stories, a happy-faced hospitality industry employee with sore feet, or an armchair traveller living life in the slow lane.

If you have travelled, on your own or with a group, you’ll enjoy this book! “Tour Guide Tales” is a collection of real tales told by real people – tour guides, directors and managers from right across Canada. The stories, edited by Danda Humphreys and illustrated by Elke Hierl-Steinbauer, will make you chuckle, nod in agreement, shake your head in disbelief, maybe even a shed a tear a two.

Read about the "two bad apples" in a busload of tourists who threatened to ruin the group’s trip to Tofino… the European tourist looking for the location of the camp where he once was a prisoner-of-war… and what happened the day a royal duke decided to steer a SeaBus.  Along the way, you’ll share some of the questions people ask, such as (at Lake Louise), "How do they drain the lake so they can paint the bottom blue?", and (pointing to the Undersea Gardens in Victoria’s Inner Harbour), "How often does that ferry sail to Vancouver?"

It’s a fun read and a great gift! Enjoy this unique collection of Canadian tour guide tales!

“Tour Guide Tales” (6” x 9”, 150 pages) is available for $19.95 per copy (including tax) from Danda Humphreys: dandah@shaw.ca or www.dandahumphreys.com.
 

 

What is James Bay’s Quality of Life?

 

Ghosts, Goblins and Grannies

James Bay, (Victoria’s oldest neighborhood), is home to many ghosts, goblins, and grannies, some of whom live here all year round while others just drop by on special occasions like Halloween to raise a harmless bit of havoc, a minute morsel of mayhem, or perhaps a whole passel of pandemonium.

GHOSTS

By all accounts, there are plenty of ghosts to go around in James Bay. These amusing apparitions often make their appearance known to custodial staff hoping to catch a bit of shut-eye on the graveyard shift, individuals suffering from insomnia out for a midnight stroll, or imbibing imps inhabiting certain neighborhood parks where they expect to enjoy a few short snorts and snooze until the following morning.

However, due to severe budget cuts in the area of government transparency and Vital Statistics, the provincial authorities are no longer prepared to invest in services for seniors or the measurement of invisible incorporeal beings. Regretably, the federal government does not keep track of phantom figures whether in the budget or in  the population Census, so it is difficult to determine exactly how many ghosts make James Bay their home.

Judging from the number of ghost tours organized in the neighborhood of late, one might surmise that these spunky spirits tend to frequent happily haunted places such as the Gatsby Mansion Restaurant, the James Bay Inn, and Helmecken House (all of which are popular tourist traps).

GOBLINS

Goblins are mythical, mischievous munchins. Research reveals that the source of their dreadful dispositions may be attributed to the fact that Noah declined to offer them a spot on his ark to escape a frigging flood because they didn’t have cachet or strong collateral let alone impressive ivy-league credentials and an impeccable credit-rating.

As a consequence, it’s not surprising that these dreadfully-dressed diminutive damsels and dudes with extraordinarily large ears or long tails have resorted to wandering about puffing on pipes or cigarettes and finding temporary accommodation in mossy cracks in rocks and tree roots, while local politicians decide how to build a spanking new state-of-the-art multimillion suspension bridge for them live under, together with other dispossessed demons including ogres, trolls, and kelpies. 

Goblins come in any colour, but most prefer hideous hues such as green or brown. This is a handy thing to know, especially for the tree-huggers who are really keen on saving these environmentally-friendly endangered species, as opposed to the Sasquatch and Cadborsaurus (who although rarely seen aren’t worth saving because the latter critters can’t abide tipplers, tourists or tree-huggers).

Image Credit: Tony DiTerlizzi.com

It is difficult to estimate the number of goblins who frequent the neighborhood. Some are said to find the wet west coast winter climate to their liking, while others choose to drop by on an itinerant basis, particularly on Halloween.

Judging from the number of ghastly and sometimes giggling goblins appearing at the front door of the neighborhood’s 7,338 private dwellings on October 31 each year, it would appear that these entertaining elf-like creatures are more than welcome in James Bay, (in contrast to bogeymen who inhabit the lawns of legislature during political protests and bugbears who hang out in the loos where they enjoy frightening the knickers, briefs, or pants off humorless homo sapiens).

GRANNIES

Image Credit: J.W. Wagner, Hallmark Cards (Maxine.com)

According to official population statistics from the 2006 Census, the James Bay neighborhood is home to the highest proportion of grannies (grumpy or otherwise) in all of Victoria.

According to the James Bay Community Project, the medical clinic currently provides care to more than 2,650 patients, of whom 700 are over the age of 75. Due to patient confidentiality, they are not permitted to release the total number of grumpy grannies under the care of their physicians.

Image Credit: J.W. Wagner, Hallmark Cards (Maxine.com)

As entertaining elders of the tribe, grannies are given a wide berth…even wider on Halloween. Grumpy grannies, which comprise the largest suck-it-up segment of the experentially-enhanced population, are easy to spot. They’re the ones who think "trick-or-treaters are so cute…imagine them coming to my door expecting to get something for free."  

Image Credit: J.W. Wagner, Hallmark Cards (Maxine.com)

These boisterous biddies are more often than not given to hooting and howling on Halloween. After all, it’s the only legal time of the year they’re are entitled to do so, without someone suggesting that they be confined to a "supported living" residence with padlocked doors and windows!

 

 

 

James Bay Puts the Ha Ha in Halloween!

The Spirit of Spooktacular is alive and well in James Bay, (Victoria’s oldest neighborhood), judging from all the weird and wonderful things that greet you at the door these days.

What do you mean the Wicked Witch of the West isn’t welcoming any boisterous bats, giggling ghouls, or pesky pumpkins on Halloween?*!

The moral to this tawdry tale is never tempt fate on All Hallow’s Eve unless you don’t mind being devoured by pesky Pumpkin Eaters.

Frankly, when the Wicked Witch of the West is dangerously undermedicated, clicking her heels together just doesn’t seem to do the trick!

Message to the Neighbors: "We got rid of the bats, the spiders and the kids because our black cat was allergic to them — what more do you want?"

 

 

 

Victoria’s Lost Industries – Part 3

Image Credit: Courtesy of Elite Home Vacations (view today from historic downtown Victoria out to the James Bay neighborhood (including the Inn at Laurel Point, the Shoal Point condos and the Ogden Point Cruiseship Terminal), and beyond to the Sooke Peninusula foothills in the distance). 

Reprinted with the kind permission of John Adams, a local author, historian, and James Bay resident; this article originally appeared in its entirety in the July/August issue of Douglas Magazine).

Inner Harbour Mudflats

The Pendray family is synonymous with the rise of Victoria’s industries. William Pendray opened his soap factory in 1875 along the northern shoreline of the James Bay mudflats (where Humbolt Street is today). His White Swan brand and "electric" soap were big sellers and no one paid much attences to the soap lees that sometimes spread out into the harbour. Plans to fill in the mudflats prompted Pendray to relocate the works to Laurel Point where he also began manufacturing paint, shellac, and varnish. A sign on the roof of the factory proclaimed to all arriving by steamer that this was the home of the British American Paint Company (BAPCO). Oil drums lined the shoreline and pipes spewed coloured liquids of dubious content into the water until the plant was teaken over by Canadian Industries Limited and moved to Surrey, B.C. in 1974. The Inn at Laurel Point graces the site today.
 

Breweries and More

Victoria’s hardworking factory workers were able to slake their thirst on beer brewed in the city’s numerous breweries. The first one started up in 1858 and, in 1870, was bought out by Joseph Loewen and Emil Erb, two enterprising Germans who named the business the Victoria Phoenix Brewing Company. By 1891, they boasted an annual production of 120,000 gallons that supplied customers throughout British Columbia and along the coast. The impressive brewery building stood on the 1900-block of Government Street, until the 1980s when it was demolished by Labatt’s. Other breweries came and went — the Lion, Bavarian, Silver Spring — but eventually all closed and Victorians could only drink beer brought in from elsewhere.

Many other factories and workshops opened and closed in Victoria during the 1800s and early 1900s. Residents could purchase vinegar, boots, shoes, clothing, candles, roofing felt, peanut butter, rice, flour, industrial chemicals, dynamite, dairy products of all descriptions, and even cigars and opium made or processed right in their own city.

Vancouver: The Young Upstart

Victoria was the undisputed industrial powerhouse of the province until Vancouver sprang up as the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1886. Some in the capital city were smug about the poential for the mainland city but soon realized Vancouver’s superb harbour and new rail connections to the rest of North America gave it a distinct advantage.

Still, Victoria remained bigger until about 1898. Unwilling to admit defeat, the city’s plutocrats devised many schemes to bring prosperity back to Victoria. One such plan in 1897 was prepared by architect Thomas Sorby and called for filling in the shoreline to provide land for new factories, warehouses, railyards, and deepsea docks. Hopes were high in the early 1900s when the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was seriously proposing to bridge Seymour Narrows and bring a transcontinental railway line to Vancouver Island with Victoria as its terminus.

The breakwater and industrial development at Ogden Point were tied to that vision, also spurred by the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914. However, the railway dream faded and the Panama Canal never quite brought the shippiing to Victoria that the businessmen had hoped for. A grain elevator was built in the 1920s but was never a success. A rail barge slip, a textile factory, fish packing plant, and a few other factories hardly achieved the site’s full potential. Lumber was shipped from Ogden Point for many years, but eventually the freighters no longer stopped there. By the end of the 20th century, Ogden Point was a barren parking lot until cruise ship companies discovered it.

Victoria’s industrial past may surprise young people or those who are new to the city. Though a few former industrial sites lie vacant, many have already been redeveloped or are in the planning stages, typically for townhouses, office and commercial space, parks and walkways. However, one exciting phenomenon is seeing some industries being revived in Victoria. Craft breweries, organic bakeries, custom furniture makers, and specialty woodworks and ironworks are among the businesses that now attract considerable attention. They are on a much smaller scale than their predecessors but, nevertheless are continuing a proud tradition of manufacturing in the capital city that extends back to its earliest days.

Victoria’s Lost Industries – Part 2

Image Credit: Times Colonist – Victoria Machinery Depot #2 – Ogden Point, James Bay – Victoria, BC

Reprinted with the kind permission of John Adams, a local author, historian, and James Bay resident; this article originally appeared in its entirety in the July/August issue of Douglas Magazine).

Cast Iron and Shipbuilding

Cast iron was another commodity once imported to Victoria. The elaborate iron columns that adorn the facade of the Rithet Building at 1117 Wharf Street bear the foundry mark of P. Donahue’s Union Iron Works, San Francisco, 1961. However, the Albion Iron Works began in Victoria that same year and soon was producing a wide array of cast iron items as diverse as stoves, fence panels,  and machinery for canneries, mining, and logging, in addition to fabricating other metal products such as boilers. In 1888, when the Rithet Building was expanded, the Albion Iron Works was called upon to replicate the original columns from California. Their foundry was located north of Chinatown on 3.5 acres of land, mainly on the block bounded by Store, Discovery, Government, and Herald Streets. The name "Albion" literally became a household word along the Pacific Coast as many homes and fishing boats had Albion stoves in their kitchens and galleys. In 1891, the firm employed over 250 people but suffered a major setback when a fire in the early 1990s wiped out most of the facility. It continued to operate for many more years in new buildings built on the ashes, until the company dissolved in 1928.

The Victoria Machinery Depot was founded by Charles Spratt in the 1860s along the water’s edge near the Point Ellice Bridge. Soon it was producing boilers and ships, including prefabricated steamers for the Klondike Gold Rush. Early in the Second World War, it received a contract for ine freighters of 10,000 tons apiece and opened a second facility. Thus, in 1941, it purchased Rithet’s Outer Wharf (soon to be known as VMD No. 2) and 27 adjacent acres of land where shipbuilding expanded during and after the war.

In 1958, the first vessels for the B.C. Ferries fleet were started at VMD No. 2 and launched in 1960. Its most famous contract was in 1966 and l967 when it built SEDCO 135-F, the world’s largest offshore oil drilling platform at that time, but it also marked the end of an era. The James Bay site closed in 1967, while VMN No. 1 on Bay Street operated through financial difficulties until 1994. At the time, it was the city’s oldest industry still actually in production.

Victoria’s Oldest Company

One business even older than VMD still legally exists, but has not manufactured anything for a long time. The oldest active incorporated company in British Columbia is the Victoria Gas Company, founded in 1860 by an act of the Colonial Assembly of Vancouver Island. It granted a five-year monopoly to a group of local investors who established a gasification plant at Rock Bay and imported the equipment from Scotland. They used coal from Nanaimo which was unloaded at a whart in front of the facility and then heated in a retort to drive off the coal gas. Distinctive gasometers held the gas under press that was piped throughout the downtown area, mostly for lighting in shops, residences, and street lights. Producing coal gas gives off a foul, suphurous aroma that must have made living in the vicinity of the works rather unpleasant, but many prominent families, such as the Finlaysons, continued to do so for many decades.

Furniture and Bread

Fine furniture was once manufactured in Victoria. Sir John A. Macdonald’s National Policy called for protective tariffs to encourage Canadian industries and, in keeping with this, in 1879, the tariff on furniture rose to 35 per cent. It had the desired effect in Victoria by spawning two major furniture factories. The name Weiler was best known and one of the oldest in the field, having started in Victoria in 1961 as upholsterers and later furniture dealers. In 1879, German-born Weiler constructed a furniture factory at what is now known as the Counting House at the corner of Broad and Broughton streets. Later, he built an even bigger one on Humboldt Street and his four sons, who took over the business under the name Weiler Brothers in 1891, erected an impressive store and factory (still standing) at the corner of Government and Broughton streets.

Jacob Sehl, another German, also started selling furniture in Victoria in 1861 and, like John Weiler, built a furniture factory in 1879. In 1891, Sehl joined forces with another local company to form Sehl-Hastie-Erskine Furniture Company.

The largest commercial bakery in Victoria, and probably in all of British Columbia, during the late 1800s, was M.R. Smith and Company, located at the foot of Niagara Street in James Bay. Moses Smith, a member of the black community, began baking bread in the city in 1858, and the firm grew steadily until he opened a state-of-the-art three-story steam factory bakery in 1889. At the time, he employed 26 hands and produced breads, pastries, and other confestions that he distributed as far away as Alaska.

Other commercial bakers also operated in Victoria. However, after 1960, when B.C. Ferries began to operate, it became difficult to compete with fresh bread trucked daily to the Island from larger bakeries in the Lower Mainland. One by one, the big commercial bakers in Victoria closed.

 

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