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(604) 520-5400
Mailing Address: P.0. Box 2503, New Westminster, B.C. V3L 5B2

700 Royal Avenue, New Westminster, B.C.

 

 

 

Ghosts of
Douglas
College Site
Unseen

A roller-rink, a labour temple
which also housed a cigar fac-
tory and a women’s temperance
society, a backyard where young
Perry Mason once played, a great
fire, and a controversial demolition
project. If you step outside for
some fresh air, or for a smoke,
those are some of the ghosts you
can encounter on the present
Douglas College site.

The first ghost lingers from the
middle of the 19th century when
Colonel Richard Moody of the
Royal Engineers prepared street
plans for the fledgling community
of New Westminster. In the works
was a long road running from
New Westminster to False Creek;
later changed to 8th Street and the
future address of Douglas College,
the route was originally called
Douglas Road.

The College block, bordered by
7th and 8th Streets, Agnes Street
and Royal Avenue, used to be
made up of “good-sized working-
class houses, which were not
ornate, but solid,” says local
historian Archie Miller.

Throughout most of the last
century, and well into this one,
those solid working-class houses
were next door to one of the big-
gest labour halls in the lower

please see “Ghosts” on page 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Douglas College Alumni Association trip to KCTS. Back
Row (I. to r.): Hugh Mitchell, Val Jorseen. Middle Row: Bruce
Clarke, Helen Clarke, Joan Day. Front Row: John Tomchick,
Norm Tworp, John Cleese, Karen Downey

Te Douglas College Alumni
Association made the scene as
Public Television’s KCTS9 in Seat-
tle hosted a pledge marathon on
June 1.

Airing that night was Black
Adder-Four, the latest edition of
the irreverent comedy series star-
ring John Cleese. Set in World War
I, the new series had been
scheduled for an earlier marathon,
but was shelved as a matter of
taste by KCTS due to the outbreak
of the Gulf War. The Douglas Col-
lege volunteers manning the
phones were kept extra busy due
to the strong response to the
delayed show.

“It was great exposure for the
Alumni Association in that we
reached a lot of Douglas College
graduates who now know we
have an Association,” said Brigitte
O’Rooney, Alumni and Develop-

ment Officer. “It was a lot of fun,
and exciting for a lot of people
who had never been in a television
studio before. ”