Fisherman's Co-op Hall dominates the north side of this block. The building started out life as the station of the Great Northern Railway at Port Guichon -- or, at least, the part closest to the road did.
Status: Still Standing
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Available evidence says the structure stands at its original location although the suggestion has also been made that it was moved here on a flat bed. Nothing in the way of a map or photograph has surfaced to confirm either belief.
Purchased in 1943 by the Ladner Fisherman's Co-operative Association, the building was enlarged substantially in the early 1960s. Community activities, not limited to surrounding residents, continue to be the focus of the Fisherman's Co-op Hall to this day -- but probably nothing like the "Great Fight Card" that waas advertised to boxing fans in 1947. Among the local lads involved in the glove throwing were Billy dobrilla, John Tara, Michael Buble, and Frankie Buble.
The Great Northern Railway from Colebrook to Port Guichon was completed in 1903 but so far it is unknown when the station was built. it would be reasonable to expect that some such building would be required at the same time as the beginning of service, perhaps that is what occurred.
It is known that there was a station house at Colebrook, in which the G. N. R. station agent and his family lived and it reasonable to assume that there was one at this end of the line although perhaps not in the earliest years of the railway's operations. At that time, E. T. Calvert was the agent. and having a business and a home in Ladner village, he would not have required accommodation.
In 1935, following the abandonment of the railway, the company placed the following ad in the newspaper: "FOR SALE -- Dismantled 5-room house, will sell complete or in small lots; very cheap. Apply Great Northern Section, Westham Road, Ladner." A section house was also part of the railway's property, but no maps have come to light to reveal its location.
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Victoria Terminal Railway and Ferry Company Station include its:
site on Savoy Street, adjacent to the former Victoria Terminal Railway spur line
institutional form, scale and massing, including the later rear addition, as expressed by its regular, rectangular, one-storey plan
front gabled roof with closed eaves, with wooden tongue-and-groove soffits
wood-frame construction with horizontal wooden v-joint drop siding, with dimensional trim boards including cornerboards and frieze boards
regular fenestration
ongoing use as a community hall
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