Fountains of Greater Vancouver

Despite this, many of the region’s fountains and pools give pleasure. Some economically recirculate the water from air-conditioning systems, and the soothing sound of falling water not only masks traffic noise but also reminds urbanites of nature’s eternal presence.

VANCOUVER Lost Lagoon’s Jubilee Fountain, probably the city’s best-known fountain, was designed by Lennox McKenzie (b. 1900), installed in 1936, and restored for Expo in 1986. The fountain was purchased from Chicago, a left-over from that city’s world fair. When it was installed, some city residents complained about the expenditure of $35,000 in the depths of the Great Depression. The fountain was just one part of an extensive display to celebrate Vancouver’s 50th anniversary. “The original design ... had a large fountain between two smaller ones,” McKenzie said in 1980, revealing that he had had to devise an electrical gizmo to produce the effect he was after, “an infinite pattern of colors using just red, blue, green and amber.”

In full flow the Centennial Fountain in the 800-b1ock Georgia Street (marble, ceramic and glass tile; 4.5 metres high) pumps more then 1.3 million litres of water an hour. Robert H. Savery, a landscape architect with the provincial department of public works, drew up the basic design, and artist Alex Svoboda, of Conn Art Studios in Toronto, devised the sculpture and mosaics. A gift from the province to commemorate the union of the Crown Colony of Vancouver’s (sic) Island with the mainland, the fountain was the subject of much press speculation before its unveiling on December 15, 1966. Entries to a “Feign the Fountain” cartoon contest sponsored by The Vancouver Sun. included several mocking depictions of then- Premier WA.C. Bennett. Carvings on the marble pillars portray “the Earth Goddess Dana… holding the cup of healing and friendship,” and the Celts, “The ancient bardic seagoing people, who were the forebears of so many Canadians.

The Queen Victoria memorial (1905, granite, 1.8 metres high) in Stanley Park near the Rowing Club, was designed by James Blomfield (1872-1951). Blomfield, whose father was a renowned supplier of art-glass in Vancouver and Victoria (he installed the commemorative windows for the Victoria Legislature), also designed Vancouver’s coat of arms in 1903.

Victory Square drinking fountain (marble/ceramic tile, 1.2 metres high) was donated by Mrs. Donald Stewart, in memory of her son, Norman, killed in World War I. The Stewart family owned Pioneer Laundry, begun in 1890, which merged in 1958 with Nelson Laundries. The fountain was designed by Jack Hambleton (b. 1916, England), who considered himself self- taught, despite some formal training at the Vancouver School of Art.

Joe Fortes Memorial Drinking Fountain in Alexandra Park, (bronze-granite, 2 metres high, 1926) was designed by Charles Marega. Seraphim (Joe) Fortes was Vancouver’s first paid lifeguard at English Bay, and gave swimming lessons for 30 years until his death in 1922. The Vancouver Kiwanis Club raised $5,000 for the fountain. Marega also designed the King Edward VII drinking fountain, in the 700-block Hornby. The cement, bronze and ceramic tile fountain, installed in 1912, was donated by the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire and dedicated by Mayor James Finlay. Bronze drinking cups were attached to the fountain but these were quickly stolen. Now only the bronze pins that once held the chained cups remain.

The two-level drinking fountain (for humans and dogs) on the north side of Robson just east of Burrard, was donated as a centennial memorial by Mrs. Theresa Galloway.

Fountain of Time at Vancouver’s Public Library, 350 West Georgia, Joseph Montague (b 1955, Montreal), concrete/stone/mosaic. One of the first works of art commissioned under Vancouver’s public art policy this fountain takes its theme from a sixth-century Persian painting. The chute wall is cleverly constructed from sections of concrete pipe.

Salmon Fountain-Shrine at the corner of Abbott and Water in Gastown was designed by Sam Carter, an instructor at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, in 1989.

Queen Elizabeth Plaza fountain (1971, bronze/ steel, 6 metres high) was designed by Gerhard Hans Class (b 1924, Germany), as a gift to the city and province from the German- Canadian community. Class’ original design was of two granite figures, male and female, representing immigrants, but money was tight.

The cast-concrete fountain, 601 West Broadway (1980, 6 metres high) was designed by Paul Deggan (b. 1932), a West Vancouver artist.

Transcendence at the Thea Koerner Graduate Student Centre, UBC (bronze, 4.2 metres high. 1961), was designed by Jack Harman (b. 1927, Vancouver) and cast at his North Vancouver foundry. This was the sculptor’s first commission. When he suggested the design should be larger to balance the bulk of the building behind it, the Koerner family doubled his budget.

Crab at 1100 Chestnut (Vancouver Museum; stainless steel, 6.7 metres high, 1958), was designed by George Norris (b. 1928, Victoria). The work cost $44,000, a gift from the women of Vancouver for Canada’s centennial. Waterworks were devised by John Bell, of Bell & Reading Engineers, West Vancouver. The crab in Haida legend protected the harbor, as well as being a sign of the zodiac. Norris, a graduate of the old Vancouver School of Art, designed the fountain’s seven water jets to be increased or decreased, depending on the weather or for special occasions such as the Sea Festival.

Flame of Peace fountain, south end of Burrard Bridge (1986) was designed by Sam Carter and Judith Reeve, The landscaping and other additions to this fountain have never been completed.

Twin Fountains 1600 Beach Avenue (copper and steel, 1965) was designed by Lionel Thomas (b. 1915) and commissioned by Block Bros.

Fountain of the Pioneers 500 Burrard St., (silicone bronze, 4 metres high, 1969) was designed by Seattle sculptor George Tsutakawa. In a 1969 Province interview, the artist said that a fountain involves three elements: heaven, earth and water. “What really makes a fountain is water, the most elusive and mysterious element of all.

Swedish Fountain VanDusen Gardens (cast bronze,.9 metres high, 1975), by Per Nilsson-Ost, was donated by Swedish community—led by Vancouver real-estate magnate Edwin Albert Arm. Cost was $50,000. Eight bronze panels depict Swedish involvement in British Columbia industry.

Waterfall at 1100 Melville (SunLife Plaza), designed by landscape architects Don Vaughan & Associates.

Waterfall, 1500 West Georgia, 1975. Architect Peter Cardew, then working for Rhone & Iredale, designed this spectacular “wall of water.

Fountain, 475 West Georgia (former B.C. Turf Building). Architect Zoltan Kiss designed this building, which dates from 1976, but believes the fountain was added later.

Fountain/sculpture at Pacific and Beach, designed by Bob Turner, was donated by the Davis family, scrap-metal merchants as part of Vancouver’s 1986 Legacies and Gifts Program. The palm trees, also a gift, were planted later. Fountain 850 Burrard. This somewhat basic fountain was designed by Eng & Wright, the architects responsible for the building. “We thought it would be a nice place to have a water feature, so we put one in,” explains architect Martin Brookner.

Fountain south of 666 Burrard (Park Place), by landscape architect Paul Friedburg(b 1931) of New York. Asked to design “an active, visually attractive, socially relevant plaza that would complement not only Park Place and Christ Church Cathedral, but the city too,” Friedburg and his team also had to hide the alley service area and create a garden on top of a three-level underground garage.

Law Courts, Robson Square, the pool and waterfall (completed 1973), were designed by architect Arthur Erickson and landscape architect Cornelia Oberlander. The pool doubles as a holding tank for the building’s fire-sprinkler system.

Indoor Fountain Pacific Centre III, (1989) designed by Toronto architect Eb Zeidler: “The fourth wall of the shopping centre couldn’t be stores, because of a building next door, so we chose the waterfall as an ‘event’ “ His inspiration was the Villa d’Este, an Italian Renaissance villa just outside Rome dating from 1550, “the first water park, the most wonderful water event ever made.”

Fountains, Canada Place (1986) by Eb Zeidler, Toronto architect. One fountain, seen as you enter the atrium, resembles a waterfall; the other, the ‘Pacific Rim’ fountain, symbolizes Canada’s connection with the Orient.

Fountain Blue Horizon Hotel, 1225 Robson. Pavelek & Associates, a Vancouver firm better known as landscape architects, also has an interior-design department, which created this graceful fountain as part of a major facelift for the hotel in 1991 . Artist Markian Olynyk designed the glass.

Queen Elizabeth Park’s fountain and water features atop the reservoir were designed by landscape architect Bob Royston of San Francisco, father of the post-war “California style,” a relaxed, informal approach to landscape. Presented to the city, together with the Bloedel Conservatory and Henry Moore’s Knife Edge, by Prentice Bloedel in 1969.

Fountain Price Waterhouse building, 601 West Hastings. Architect Graham Tudor and landscape architect Jane Durante designed this fountain. Tudor’s interest in mosaics and the zodiac is evident.

Waterfall fountain, on Melville outside Bentall Centre IV, was designed by landscape architects Vaughan Durante Ferry.

Fountain, concrete, 808 Nelson. The building was designed by architects Romses Kwan, but the name of the designer of the fountain has been lost in the mists of time.

No one seems to know who designed the fountain outside the main library at the University of British Columbia, where engineering freshmen once were ceremoniously dunked. Frank Buck first landscaped the university grounds.

B.C. Hydro building, 333 Dunsmuir, the blue-painted steel fountain was designed by Alberta artist Tony Bloom, who won the commission in a competition. “The complexity was in making it look simple,” says Bloom, who was trained as a physicist. The design was inspired by shishi odoshi, a bamboo rod that fills with water and swings to the ground with a loud noise, traditionally used in Japanese gardens to scare away deer. A smaller, more traditional fountain in the grounds was designed by landscape architects Durante Kreuk.

Cathedral Place, Dunsmuir and Richards, the reflecting pool forms part of a landscape designed by architect Bruno Freschi, now dean of the school of architecture and planning at the State University of New York at Buffalo, with assistance from landscape architect Jane Durante. it was commissioned by the city. The plaza, which sits atop a B.C. Hydro substation, contains a theatre-in-the-round, which used to be programmed by Vancouver’s social planning department. The columns in the plaza double as exhaust fans, and the pool water is part of the substation cooling system

. Fountain, near 1450 Creekside, designed by architect Larry Doyle and built by Pennyfarthing Development Co. in 1987. When Pennyfarthing built their offices, the city granted them a development permit in return for creating public open space nearby. Doyle and Pennyfarthing VP Peter Isler considered adding a gazebo to the little park, but eventually decided on a fountain, thinking it would be less prone to vandalism. Doyle came up with the ziggurat-like design, a concrete core faced with tiles. The fountain boasts a spectacular central jet of water, but electricity bills for its operation became too onerous, and it is turned on only occasionally in summer. In Isler’s opinion, fountains are an expensive nuisance.

Fountain at Discovery Square (Burrard SkyTrain Station) was designed by Per Kreuk of landscape architects Vaughan Durante. The initial design called for a larger fountain, but feedback from the public prompted a more subtle approach.

Fountain in the plaza behind 1333 West Broadway was done by landscape architect Christopher Phillips.

Courtyard at 1166 Melville, landscape architects Durante Kreuk took a cue from the nearby wall mural of orca whales, fashioning “a plane of water” to separate the area.

Reflecting pond at 1075 West Georgia, still known as the MacMillan Bloedel Building although the forest company has moved elsewhere, was designed by architect Arthur Erickson. lets of water were added later.

Water fall at Bayshore Gardens, west of the Bayshore Hotel at Coal Harbour, was designed by Durante Kreuk, who also used pools of water to separate the residential towers on Coal Harbour between Denman and Cardero, and devised a series of connecting pools in the public space to the north.

Fountain in the plaza at 808 Beach, completed in 1993, was designed by landscape architect Jerry Vegelatos. His initial plan was to draw attention to the sloping site and refer to the life-cycle of the salmon by forcing a stream of water uphill. However, the design was modified, and now comprises a sphere of black granite, a stream flowing over small stones, and a cascade of water that splashes into False Creek.

Fountain outside Wall Centre, Burrard Street, was designed by Bruno Freschi and completed in 1995. Originally designed with more jets, the fountain parallels Burrard Street and complements the honey locust trees in the garden behind it.

BURNABY Fountain at Ismailia Jamatkhana Centre, a mosque at 4010 Canada Way, by architect Bruno Freschi. Lutz Haufschild designed the windows. Water is a symbol of life for Moslems, as it is for many peoples.

Civic Square, Metrotown, water feature designed by landscape architects Durante and Partners and the SWA Group, a California firm.

Burnaby Civic Employees Union Memorial Fountain, 6501 Deer Lake Ave., designed by William Williamson, Westminster Monumental Works, (B.C. granite, 1923). Erected to honor union members killed in World War I, this fountain was originally located on Kingsway near Edmonds at the old Municipal Hall. In 1974, it was moved to Burnaby Village Museum.

Fountain, Royal Oakland Park (1994). A collaboration between Burnaby parks department and landscape architects Durante Kreuk. This fountain, constructed in 1994, contains recycled materials from Oakalla Prison, which once stood on the site.

Jubilee fountain and archway, Earl and Jennie Lohn Perennial Garden, Central Park (north-east entrance on Kingsway). landscape architect Kate Clark of Burnaby’s parks department, (1993). The granite archway once graced the original 1891 Vancouver Club.

WEST VANCOUVER Landscape architect Don Vaughan designed two fountains for his home municipality. One, Granite Assemblage, at the foot of 14th Street (1989, $480,000), doubled as his graduating project at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, when Vaughan returned as a mature student, and was inspired both by John Cage’s music and the ruins at Olympus, Greece. The other, on Marine Drive at 14th Street, incorporates a chunk of jade that was presented to the municipality by the president of Husky Oil, and makes reference to a stream that once flowed nearby.

RICHMOND Richmond Cultural Centre, 7700 Minoru Gate, Fountain, by Tony O’Regan of CJP Architects, completed in 1994.

SURREY Surrey Taxation Centre (main entrance), 9755 King George Highway. Fountain by Ruth Beer. This fountain’s stark simplicity and sharp angular planes contrast sharply with the softer tones of natural brick and wood that surround the entrance to the taxation centre.

NORTH VANCOUVER City Hall Water feature, 141 West 14th Street. Designed by landscape architects Vaughan Durante around a venerable black-walnut tree (since died), this complex of streams and pools was meant to evoke the North Shore’s natural landscape. The original design has been much modified.

Who’s Got the Umbrella!, Deep Cove Cultural Centre, 4360 Gallant, Greg Kawczynski (b. 1953, Poland), marble, 1.5 metres by 1.5 metres by 9 metres, 1993. This fountain symbolizes protection for the children of the community. Kawczyn ski, who immigrated from Poland in 1989 and lives in Deep Cove, presented this fountain to the cultural centre. He travelled to the Leo d’Or mine on northern Vancouver Island himself to get the marble, which was donated.

Capilano Road and Ridgeway abstract fountain by George Norris, (bronze alloy, 1968). This piece was commissioned by the District of NorthVancouver.