Dear Editor
The housing pandemic is affecting us all, in every corner of urban B.C., but in New Corriganville (formerly Burnaby), redevelopment is at a pace that will never be exceeded.
It’s erasing the formerly decent city’s pioneering heritage faster than it can be documented and, as long as building permits are being bought, King and council couldn’t care less. There were over 450 heritage worthy properties identified in 1985 for potential protection, and of that list, less than half still stand.
There are currently six buildings identified on heritage lists that are on their way to the landfill, the last of which is the 1908 Mawhinney mansion “Evergreen” on Burris at Canada Way.
Burnaby places in the top five wealthiest cities in B.C., it ceased external borrowing ages ago. It is also B.C.’s third largest city, spanning nearly 100 square kilometres. You would think that a major metropolis of over 95,000 private dwellings would have more than 54 heritage properties (only 26 are privately owned homes), seeing as its been a settlement since the 1880s (incorporated in 1892).
Alas that is not the vision of New Corriganville, the dump truck capital of B.C., but hey, at least we have the country’s second largest shopping experience.
Jonathan Reay, Burnaby
