Vancouver Seawall celebrates 50 years since opening

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A prominent piece of Vancouver’s landscape is celebrating its Golden Jubilee Sunday. It was 50 years ago the Seawall opened to the public.

On Sept. 26, 1971, the Seawall was officially opened, however construction continued for another decade to make it part of the world’s longest uninterrupted waterfront path.

President of the Vancouver Historical Society and author, Michael Kluckner, says the planning and building of the Seawall actually began about 100 years ago.

“All the way along English Bay, that was private property. It was bought up over periods of 1920s, 30s, 40s, gradually clearing the little houses off the waterfront there, and then opening that up.”

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According to the City of Vancouver, the 28 km wall has deep foundations with renewed surfacing that is built to withstand tides and storms.

Kluckner says it took thousands of workers to create the historic path.

“The late 1920s was the peak year for construction, and there were 2,300 men labouring on the wall. And then during the depression, relief workers were put to work there.”

But you can’t talk about the Seawall without mentioning stone mason James Cunningham, Kluckner says.

“He worked away on this for 32 years, and died in 1963 at the age of 85, so he never saw the completion of it. But he was, in a sense, the kind of the guiding light for the whole project.”

A plaque commemorating Cunningham’s work can be seen above the Seawall near Siwash Rock.