Vancouver Trivia III
-
courtesy
Tourism Vancouver
False Creek
It's
not a creek, but its name came from the record books of a long-ago naval officer
who guided his ship along the waters thinking it was a creek and was annoyed to
discover it wasn't. It's simply an inlet, which now is the southern side of the
downtown core peninsula. False Creek is only half the size it once was. It once
stretched to marshes along Clark Street and canoes could navigate at high tide
into Burrard Inlet, but landfill was added to convert the eastern marshes into
an industrial area as a make-work project during the Great Depression. Today,
that area is a busy train yard.
Granville Island
One
of the busiest spots in Vancouver,
Granville Island was once a small mudflat on False Creek, awash at high
tide. Then it was built up, became home to a lot of noisy industry. Today, its
third career is a shopping, high craft and live entertainment mecca.
The Vancouver International Children's Festival
The concept of an
international children's festival originated in Vancouver. This festival
is internationally recognized as an innovation in the field of arts for young
people. Theatre, music, dance, storytelling and puppetry from around the world
is staged for young people each spring at Vanier Park at the entrance to False
Creek.
Red Crossed
When Vancouver's first motorized ambulance arrived in the city
many decades ago, they took it out for a test drive. Puttering along, they
didn't see the American tourist until they ran him over and killed him.
The Ridge Theatre
This popular theatre, located near the corner of 16th and
Arbutus on the west side of the city, was built in 1950, when crying rooms were
commonplace. That's right. Crying rooms. It provided a soundproofed, glassed-in
room for moviegoers with babies and small children. Now the theatre's eight-seat
kiddie cubbyhole is the last in the Lower Mainland, but still popular with
parents as well as the occasional movie star: Katherine Hepburn has quietly
taken advantage of the room's privacy.
The
Vancouver Art Gallery
We can't think of another world-famous art gallery that
occupies an entire courthouse.
The Vancouver Art Gallery also boasts a ghost among its collections.
'Charlie', the ghost, is said to live in the catacombs, where the holding cells
of the former courthouse were located, and is also said to be the spirit of
William Charles Hopkinson, an immigration officer who was murdered there in
1914. Hangings are still a major feature of this building: This major public
gallery offers changing exhibitions of historical and contemporary art by
regional, national, and international artists. Permanent collection features
BC's Emily Carr.
Vancouver Restaurants
There are approximately 3,737 restaurants in the city of
Vancouver.
