DEVELOPING STORIES
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Broughton street
William Robert Broughton
Another case of a West End street being named by surveyor L.A. Hamilton after a body of water named after an English explorer. Broughton Strait and the Broughton Archipelago off the north coast of Vancouver Island, was so named in 1792 by Captain George Vancouver after Lieutenant Commander William Robert Broughton (1762 - 1821) who captained the Chatham, the second ship in Vacouver’’s small fleet. His father, Charles Broughton, was a Hamburg merchant and his mother, Anne Elizabeth, was the daughter of Baron William de Hertoghe. Broughton married his cousin, Jemima and they had four children. Broughton began his naval career at the age of twelve, and
The Chatham arrived near Point Grey that year after some exploring in the South Pacific, to find the Spanish already there. Broughton played a key role in the dispute between the British and the Spanish over the Pacific coast region and was the British representative who, along with Admiral Quadra and his men, brokered courtesy 13-gun salutes to each other’s flags. This show of civility between Broughton and Quadra was in marked contrast to the hostilities between their political masters. Following his BC coastal explorations, Broughton was given command of HMS Providence, a ship formerly commanded by Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame, crossed the Pacific, and began a four-year survey of the Asian coast including the Kurile Islands, Japan, Okinawa, and Formosa.
In 1821, while in Florence, Broughton suffered an angina attack and died two days later. He is buried in the English burial ground in Leghorn, Italy.
480
NAME: currently ‘Coal Harbour Elementary School, Daycare and Social Housing Compex’
DESCRIPTION: The City feels it necessary to build an 11 story building on top of the Coal Harbour Community Centre. The first three floors are to house a new elementary school for up to 340 pupils. The fourth floor will have space for a 9,600 square foot childcare facility with room for 64 kids. The floors above are slated for 60 units of social housing. (6 studios, 17 one-bedroom, 23 two-bedroom, 11 three-bedroom suites.)
PRINCIPALS: Owner City of Vancouver Developer The City awarded the contract to Haebler Construction Projects for 7.6 million dollars (which, interestingly, is less than the city’s original budget of $80.8 million.) Architect Henriquez Partners Architects (also the original architects for the Coal Harbour Community Centre 20 years ago.) Marketing: n/a
HISTORY: In 1996 the city decided that Coal Harbour would be just the place to build a school as well as some much needed social housing. However, the city only got through Phase 1 and, by 2000, and all that had been erected was the Coal Harbour Community Centre, underground parking for same, a wee park and a couple of social housing co-ops in the vicinity. But somehow there never seemed to be enough money floating around to get that school built. The area would likely still be waiting for the necessary funds to build the promised school were it not for the out-and-out necessity of upgrading the downtown electrical infrastructure (given the massive amount of residential development underway) and thus entered BC Hydro who handed over a goodly chunk of dough (75million CAD) toward the Coal Harbour School which absolutely must be built before BC Hydro digs up Nelson Park (see also Nelson Park) in order to build and bury a new substation (to replace that old workhorse Dal Grauer substation on Burrard) where the Lord Roberts Annex School now stands, still functioning, awaiting demolition as soon as the Coal Harbour school/day care center/social housing building is erected.
CONTROVERSIES: The Coal Harbour neighborhood was horrified and vocal about it. The vast majority of responses from the Coal Harbour neighborhood to the City’s declaration that Its Will Be Done was resoundingly negative. The neighborhood was not opposed to building a school per se, or even the introduction of superb social housing in their midst. Rather, the negative outcry grew from the manner in which the City insisted, with little in the way of serious consultation, of ramming the plan through. The community’s major concern that the siting of the potential school/day care centre/social housing structure would increase and clog up traffic in a very small area, create noise and chaos amid some very expensive housing, and be a potential danger to the children.
SPECS: Height: 11 stories / 127ft / 38.71m. The first three levels will be classrooms for 340 elementary students. A large chidcare center with facilities for 64 children will be on the fourth floor which also offers an outdoor play area on the roof of the school. The ensuing 6 floors have been allotted to 60 units of Social Housing. It is set to begin construction in early 2022 with an optimistic completion date of Summer 2024.
LINKS:
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/480-broughton-street-vancouver-coal-harbour-school-social-housing-design
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/coal-harbour-school-social-housing-project-contractor-vancouver
