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Cynthia Elcheshen (Class of 2010)
Cynthia Elcheshen chronicles the history of Mole Hill The houses on Mole Hill sit atop the highest point in Vancouver's West End. They are tucked between St. Paul's Hospital, Nelson Park, and countless high-rise apartments that make up the landscape of one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in North America. If you didn't happen to wander off Davie Street to Pendrell and Comox, and take note of the change in scenery, you might miss these two blocks of heritage homes, most of which were built between 1889 and 1910. They are the largest intact group of its kind left in Vancouver, a direct connection to our city's beginnings.
I discovered this historical landmark for the first time as summer intern at Mole Hill Community Housing Society. I was hired to create a storyboard of Mole Hill's history to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the society. The society is the current keepers of this remarkable space: a tranquil oasis brimming with natural and architectural beauty. The newly restored homes are interspersed with heritage trees and flowers. A lane lined with vegetable gardens and fruit trees runs between the two rows of houses. Though the landscaping and buildings are beautiful, what inspires me most is the social history, the living heritage of the pioneers, tenants, and activists who defined this place. Its existence today is the result of an impassioned few who rallied community support to fight for affordable social housing and a piece of our heritage. The homes on Mole Hill have been under threat since the 1950s. They survived the wholesale razing of the West End during the post-war boom, but the City and the park board started buying up the houses with plans for demolition and future development. Each attempt to destroy the homes was met with opposition -- and each time, plans were shelved. The final push from the City came in the mid-1990s. Six years and countless meetings, signatures, letters, protests, and news stories would result in Mole Hill being saved for good. Eventually, the organizations that advocated for Mole Hill -- the Mole Hill Living Heritage Society, the Friends of Mole Hill -- as well as the Mole Hill Working Group, the provincial government, and the municipal government would all agree on a plan. This community worked together to develop a vision for the space that would include three daycares, a home for recovering heart-transplant patients, a centre for people living with AIDS, a transition home for youth, a community garden, dedicated parking spots for the Auto Co-op Network, and 168 suites of low-end market and subsidized housing. Mole Hill today is a model of urban, modern, environmentally sustainable community living. The houses of Mole Hill are still standing because of the foresight and perseverance of a few amazing people. When I began my internship, I expected to write about houses. By the end of the summer, I realized that I was writing about people, from the pioneers to the activists who inspired a community to do the seemingly impossible -- save Mole Hill.
Read more about the author. Posted April 2010
