North Van waterfront landmark being dismantled
Posted December 2, 2013 11:15 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Another piece of North Vancouver’s maritime history is fading into memory.
Crews have begun taking apart the Flamborough Head, the stern of a World War II Victory ship. The vessel — like many of the famous Victory ships — was built at the nearby Burrard Dry Dock.
North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto admits the fate of the stern was sealed when the City didn’t secure funding for a national maritime centre.
“We’re quite disappointed we had to make this decision but times have changed. We took possession of that ship over 10 years ago. We want to move forward with the site and people are wanting something a little bit different than the protection and saving of that ship,” he tells us.
The stern has been on the waterfront since 2001, and now Mussatto says it has become too expensive to keep.
“The cradle has to be replaced. Then you look at the ship, the ship has some asbestos in it, it has lead-based paints which have to be dealt with, so overall the cost would be very significant.”
Getting rid of it won’t be cheap either; the mayor estimates the cost to be somewhere around a couple of hundred thousand dollars.
What will go in that space is still up for debate. Mussatto says possibilities include an outdoor skating rink.
