Here's Coquitlam
Campus and cnvirons

LORENZO SIA

an you remember what the

northeast portion of

Coquitlam was like about IS
years ago? What were the
surroundings like? Were there houses
on Westwood Plateau? Was it an
urban cesspool or a quiet nature
wilderness? Baék in 1983, there was
only the Coquitlam Centre Mall and
the Westwood Mall. One can say that
the shopping malls located at the
intersection of Lougheed Hwy, Barnet
Hwy, and Pinetree Way were
considered the edge of civilization.
Beyond Coquitlam Centre on Pinetree
Way was a gravel pit. There was no
Guildford Avenue cutting
perpendicularly to Pinetree, only Glen
Avenue. There were no townhouses or
high-rises, only tall trees. The area
encompassing LaFarge Lake and the
Town Centre Park now was a disused
gravel pit. In other words, the
area where David Lam
Campus sits was an
underdeveloped wilderness.

The City of Coquitlam, Fe
then called the District of |
Coquitlam, experienced rapid
growth. This was due to the |
real estate “war” between
Vancouver and Toronto, in
which Vancouver won out.
You may recall then that this
hen house prices

early tripled in

ver, including

August 1998 Page 14 COQ.

Coquitlam. To top this off, immigra-
tion to Vancouver from Asia increased
the ethnic and cultural diversity of
the region. Plans were made to devel-
op the region of Westwood Plateau.
Hence, roads going up to the plateau
began to emerge. Some names are still
recent and new such as: Johnson
Heights, Panorama Ridge, Westwood
Plateau, Robson Avenue. All of these
developments were connected to an
older development just west of the
named area: Eagle Ridge and Falcon
Drive.

The area where the David Lam
Campus sits has many other institu-
tions and facilities that were built to
accommodate this regional “explo-
sion.” Here can be found the
Evergreen Cultural Centre, the
Pinetree High School, the Pinetree
Community Centre, the City Centre
Aquatic Centre, Town Centre Park,
and the new Coquitlam City Hall.

Oh, look, the firehall just north of the David Lam campus. at Pinetree Way. Another exciting
component of Coquitlam’s Town Centre.

The City of Coquitlam and mem-
bers of the private sector had a shared
vision to create a cultural centre. The
result, the Evergreen Cultural Centre,
located on the corner of Guildford
and Pinetree, is a fully functioning
centre for the arts; from music, to
stage, to hands-on-work. The ground-
breaking ceremony for the centre was
on June 15, 1995, followed by the
official opening on October 26,

1996. The Evergreen Cultural Centre
is a place to exhibit art and to educate
and entertain the public with visual
and performing arts. National and
international artists are invited to
exhibit and complement the local
involvement. For more information on
events at the Evergreen Cultural
Centre, phone 927-6550.

Planners decided to build the facili-
ties at the David Lam campus to
accommodate students of all ages,

from high school to post-