LtS-3 & NORTH VANCOUVER MEMORIAL COMMUNITY CENTRE A study of a l o c a l community e f f o r t i n organizing leisure-time a c t i v i t i e s . by MARY STEWART FAGAN Thesis submitted i n P a r t i a l Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK i n the Department of S o c i a l Work. 1949 The University of B r i t i s h Columbia ABSTRACT This study, talcing the Memorial Community Centre and i t s two a f f i l i a t e d agencies, Heywood community Centre and North Shore Neighbourhood House, as the medium, examines the form which the development of the recreation movement has taken i n North Vancouver, and evaluates the adequacy of the agencies to meet the leisure-time needs of the c i t i z e n s of t h i s area* These agencies are surveyed i n terms of their leader-, ship, programme, and f a c i l i t i e s . The importance of the s o c i a l , economic and c u l t u r a l background i s brought out. The d i s t r i c t i s poorly planned and the community i s i s o l a t e d from the amenities and commercial amusements of Vancouver C i t y . The population i s drawn l a r g e l y from wage earner groups. North Vancouver was badly h i t by the depression and only recently has managed to a t t a i n greater economic s t a b i l i t y . Accordingly, the North Shore has been thrown on I t s own resources f o r recreation and organization. The majority of the c i t i z e n s moved to North Vancouver to f i n d a more pleasant environment for bringing up t h e i r children: they are keenly interested i n the welfare of t h e i r families and a l l projects of creative recreation* There i s an unusually wide degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n these centres, not only f i n a n c i a l l y but i n the form of sponsorship, committees and actual membership. The study pays p a r t i c u l a r attention to t h i s , to i t s achievements, and to the d i f f i c u l t i e s which s t i l l remain. As the scope of the centres widen, public r e l a t i o n s , r e c r u i t i n g and t r a i n i n g of competent volunteers, and programme organiza-t i o n generally, a l l become more important; the study attempts to assess community opinion on these matters. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I can not re f e r i n d i v i d u a l l y to a l l the people who have made the w r i t i n g of t h i s thesis possible but I must acknowledge the debt I owe to Dr. L« Marsh for constructive c r i t i c i s m s and suggestions. I would also l i k e to thank Mr. W. R» McDougall and Mr. A. D. Dewar for so generously a s s i s t i n g me i n obtaining much of my materials TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. Recreation i n t h i s Modern Community Fie l d s of public and private r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . P r i n c i p l e s and objectives of a recreation movement. Leisure-time f a c i l i t i e s * Chapter 2. The Background of North Vancouver Influence of pioneer background on the community. Sparse population. Depressed economic conditions i n the t h i r t i e s ; Wartime influences. Recent indoor recreation organization. Chapter 3. Community P a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the Recreational Movement of North Vancouver Neighbourhood House: f i r s t community centre on North Shore. Organization by l o c a l c i t i z e n s . Heywood Community Centre: housing unit for war-workers. Memorial community Centre: e f f o r t s by high school students. Support of P.T.A. and p u b l i c . Expansion of plans i n t o a community centre. Chapter 4. Type of Organization Developed Prolonged negotiations between School Board, City Council and Community Centre committee. F u l l time d i r e c t o r and or-ganized prograJHmes. A f f i l i a t i o n of Heywood community Centre and North Shore Neighbourhood House: basis of the r e l a t i o n -ship. Chapter 5 . F a c i l i t i e s , Leadership and Programme Role of Executive Director, Function of programme s t a f f , Development of programmes i n 1948. F a c i l i t i e s i n a f f i l i a t e d agencies. Chapter 6. Conclusion Recapitulation of c i t i z e n s ' p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n centres. Greater emphasis needed i n certain aspects of movement. The years ahead. CHAPTER I . RECREATION I F THIS MODERN COMMUNITY In e a r l i e r days when population was scattered, the home, the church and the school were the centres of s o c i a l a c t i v i t y . Gradually, with the increased l e i s u r e developed under modern working con-d i t i o n s , c i t i z e n s tend to seek recreation i n l e s s l i m i t e d environments. This demand f o r leisure-time a c t i v i t i e s , I f i t i s to be properly met, c a l l s f o r comprehensive planning by community leaders to pro-vide stimulating and creative recreation, e s p e c i a l l y for wage-earners who seek compensation for the monotony of t h e i r working hours. Recreation i s a loosely used term which, as Ott Romney c l e a r l y defined i t , "Includes every-thing the i n d i v i d u a l chooses to do i n his own time o f f the job or out of school hours f o r the g r a t i f i c a -t i o n of doing. I t i s of great importance to the i n -d i v i d u a l and the jealous concerm of society, that the recreation provided be constructive, decent - a whole-some way of l i f e . " 1 ' G r o u p Work' i s a comparatively I. Romney.G.Ott, "The F i e l d of Recreation," The Group, American Association of Group Workers,April, 1947. new method i n recreation of inducing every p a r t i c i p a n t to share i n the organization of a c t i v i t i e s . I t arose out of an increased awareness that there are two aspects of recreation . to be taken i n t o account; on the one hand the. a c t u a l sports, games, discussions and so on; and on the others the i n t e r -play/ of p e r s o n a l i t i e s , which creates the group process. I t helps the leader, #110 has s k i l l and knowledge of these human r e l a t i o n s , to develop needed group experience and give the members the s a t i s f a c t i o n of having achieved somethijqg: worthwhile i n d i v i d u a l l y and of furthering, t h e i r s o c i a l ad-justment and growth. I t helps those who formerly were un-able to enjoy themselves because of d i f f i c u l t i e s i n personal adjustment, to receive s a t i s f a c t o r y r e l a x a t i o n . I t encourages i n d i v i d u a l s , through these group experiences, to le a r n horn to take a greater share i n the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of administering the agency,^ 1 There has been a r a p i d development of recreational services to meet the needs of t h i s new l e i s u r e ; some organized f o r p r o f i t by commercial i n t e r e s t s , others under public auspices maintained by tax funds; while a few services de-veloped under private auspices, maintained by voluntary contributions and held i n "Y^'s, settlement houses and other s o c i a l agencies, churches and youth centres. The usual trend i n the f i e l d of recreation has been that i t was I . Coyle,, Grace, "Group Work as a Method i n Recreation", The group, American Association of Group Workers, A p r i l , 1947. o r i g i n a l l y financed by voluntary contributions and administer-ed by p r i v a t e organizations^ who have pioneered i n most spheres of s o c i a l work. Yet, as the need f o r such a service was demonstrated to the public i n these private agencies, the demand f o r i t became so widespread that the government gradually took over the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r I t s support and administration, thus r e l e a s i n g p r i v a t e funds f o r experiment-a l work i n other f i e l d s . The r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of theppublic agency has increasingly come to mean that of maintaining those r e c r e a t i o n a l f a c i l i t i e s ..."Which are of such, general concern that the provision of them through the means of p u b l i c taxation appears to be the most economical and ex-1 peditious way o f making them a v a i l a b l e . " Some people are a f r a i d of entrusting r e c r e a t i o n to government control on the grounds that l o c a l governments are i n e f f i c i e n t or cor-rupt. But i n a democracy, f a i t h i n government i s e s s e n t i a l , for only as people believe i n t h e i r government and are w i l -l i n g to work to make i t something to be proud of, cam i t be an instrument to carry out t h e i r w i l l * The acceptance o f governmental r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for the p r o v i s i o n of public r e c r e a t i o n f a c i l i t i e s departs widely from e a r l i e r t r a d i t i o n s and has had to make i t s way i n the face of much opposition. During times of business prosperity, adequate appropriations for p u b l i c parks and 1 . H.ielte.Qeorge.The Administration of P u b l i c Recreation, MacMillan Company, New York, 1940, P . 2 1 . 2 . Sorenson, Roy, A Community Plan for Recreation and Youth Services For Los Angeles, Los Angeles' 1946. -4-playgrounds have not been d i f f i c u l t to secure, but during the f inanc ia l depression of the th i r t i e s one of the f i r s t municipal expenditures to be cut was the recreational budget. Public recreation i s financed mainly by money raised from taxes and from government agencies such as School Boards, c i t y Councils and departments of the. Municipal, Provincia l and Dominion governments; where-as the funds which are available for supporting private agencies are obtained from voluntary contributions c o l -lected by Community Chest and Council . There i s s t i l l some confusion over the f ields of public and private responsibi l i ty , and a need exists for greater c l a r i f i c a t i on on this issue. Most recreation-- a l authorities agree that there are four major satisfac ;r (1 tions which people seek In their community. Meeting; these satisfactions are the responsibi l i ty of both public and private agencies and there need not be the overlapping which i s so prevalent today. F i r s t , f a c i l i t i e s which do not require leadership should be provided, such as tennis courts and playing f ie lds , situated i n areas which are easily accessible to a l l members of the community and main-tained by tax funds. This has become almost universal ly accepted as a public responsib i l i ty . Second, leadership and equipment should be made available for a broad . "ac t iv i t i e s" programme of sports, music, crafts, socia l ac t iv i t i e s and adult education which, by the nature of the ac t iv i ty , needs some organization to provide adequate I . Sorenson, Roy, A Community Plan for Recreation and Youth Services For Los Angeles, Los Angeles,-1946 ! r ~ ~"~ leadership and f a c i l i t i e s . This i s increasingly becoming ac-cepted as a public r e s p o n s i b i l i t y exercised through School Boards, municipal a u t h o r i t i e s and recreation commissions. The programme content of these f i r s t two groups i s emphasized, rather than the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between group members. Third, leadership and programme for smaller, self-determining groups such as Cubs, Brownies and friendship clubs should bav pro-vided, g i v i n g s a t i s f a c t i o n to the Individual members more from the association than the a c t i v i t y i t s e l f . At present they are financed by p r i v a t e contributions and are mainly under the d i r e c t i o n of s k i l l e d leadership, or volunteers supervised by professional group workers. They function i n private agencies or p u b l i c h a l l s rented by private groups. Fourth, the s p e c i a l guidance of maladjusted i n d i v i d u a l s and gangs, through recreation and group a c t i v i t i e s must be handled by the most s k i l l e d leadership i n private agencies, maintaining a close cooperation with p s y c h i a t r i s t s or case-workers who are i n contact with these i n d i v i d u a l s In t h e i r s p e c i a l f i e l d s . These l a s t two groups of r e c r e a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s emphasize the relationships between i n d i v i d u a l s (1 i n the groups, rather than programme content. P r i n c i p l e s and Objectives of a Recreation Movement Mr. Roy Sorenson, who conducted an outstanding survey on recreation i n Los Angeles, states that i t s major objectives should be to provide leisure-time a c t i v i t i e s 1. Memorandum of the Fields of Public and Private Responsibility i n the Recreational and Group Activities,Community Chest and Council, 1949. 2. Sorenson, Roy, A Community Plan for Recreation and Youth Services for Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 1946 -6-available to a l l , continuously throughout the year. I t should give the c i t i z e n s a sense of comradeship and an opportunity f o r self-expression, as w e l l as satisfying; the desire for s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s . I t should induce members to share i n the planning of a c t i v i t i e s , and access to i t s f a c i l i t i e s should be w i t h i n the f i n a n c i a l range of a l l the people. Such a programme must be sensitive to changing; con-d i t i o n s and needs. One of the recommendations of the 1938 Report of the Royal Commission to Investigate the Penal System, placed on the state the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r the provision of clubs f o r boys and g i r l s as a means of preventing juvenile de-linquency. I t understood the w e l l known fact that people lack-inging healthy recreation are more l i k e l y to turn t h e i r energies into destructive channels. Mr. Jesse F. Stelner, r e f e r r i n g to these temptations to indulge i n harmful practices, suggests -"Perhaps the problem of demoralizing pleasures can be dealt with more s a t i s f a c t o r i l y by the promotion of wider recreational opportunities than by more d r a s t i c government; co n t r o l . The i n d i r e c t attack upon undesir-able amusements by creating i n t e r e s t i n more wholesome forms of recreation may, i n the long run, be the wisest course to follow." Thus p r o v i s i o n of adequate recre a t i o n a l opportunities becomes an important r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of society. (1 Necessary Features of A Recreation Programme I t I s agreed among recreational a u t h o r i t i e s that city-owned areas should have c e r t a i n d e f i n i t e recreational features. I. Steiner, Jesse, F i , Recreation and Morale, Department of National Education Association, ?/ashington,D.C., 1942. -7 There should be playgrounds provided for children between s i x and fourteen, where they ate supervised; a protected area i n which the pre-school c h i l d can play under the eyes of his mother; and space to be used by the entire neigh-bourhood to gather for f e s t i v a l s and concerts. No one should have to walk more than one-quarter of a mile i n a densely built-up neighbourhood, or one ha l f mile i n a scattered neighbourhood, to such a playground, which should be equipped f o r year-round p l a y . j l P l a y f i e l d s , which are larger areas of land than playgrounds, should be l a i d out for league gamea and sports and should be within.one mile (2 of each hom&j Both should be at least one acre i n s i z e . Any c i t y adequately equipped with leisure-time f a c i l i t i e s should have play l o t s for pre-school children, b a l l - f i e l d s , g o l f courses and game f a c i l i t i e s such as ten-nis courts* Other necessary features are recreation b u i l d -ings, swimming pools or beaches, winter sports f a c i l i t i e s , p i c n i c grounds with equipment, camping centres, bicycle and b r i d l e paths, open-air theatres and handstands. A l l such r e c r e a t i o n a l areas should be a t t r a c t i v e l y landscaped.(3 Community centres or indoor recreation buildings should supplememt the f a c i l i t i e s already available i n the community. Such buildings should not be constructed u n t i l i t i s found that schools, h a l l s and so on are u^a.yia^.lable,:or 1. Standards, Playgrounds, P l a y f i e l d s , Recreation Buildings, National Recreation Association, New York 10, New York, 1947. 2. I b i d 3. I b i d unsuitable. The features desired i n a community centre are the following -a) Gymnasium, with seats f o r spectators, lookers and. showers. b) Assembly h a l l or auditorium with stage. c) Lounge or room f o r informal reading and quiet games. d) A r t s and cr a f t workshop. e) Two or more club or multiple-use rooms. f) Snack bar. g) Kitchen. h) O f f i c e i ) Service and storage room. ^ A l l indoor centres should be designed to accommodate several groups at the same time for meeting varied recreational needs, and to reduce the cost of maintenance and supervision for year-round operation. I t s programme should be begun i n a li m i t e d way, but plans should be made to allow f o r future enlargement• A community centre should be administered by a board of commission of p u b l i c - s p i r i t e d c i t i z e n s , without pay, who are responsible to the community f o r organizing; recrea-t i o n a l programmes to meet a wide range of Interests. Such a board should study l o o a l needs and t r y to f i n d out the most p r a c t i c a l means of meeting them. I t should make the f u l l e s t use of a l l resources and be integrated with a l l other com-munity services, cooperating with them i n planning for the a c q u i s i t i o n and development of a l l p o t e n t i a l f a c i l i t i e s . Pressure should be exerted , by such a grouPi f o r the pass-i n g of appropriate »enabling* l e g i s l a t i o n to permit i t to plan, finance and administer an adequate programme; l i n k i n g Vancouver to the East; and the incorporation of the C i t y of Vancouver i n 1886, caused the centre of i n t e r e s t to s h i f t from Moodyville to the new settlement on the south shore and brought a wave of rapid expansion to Vancouver* Moody-v i l l e subsided q u i e t l y Into the background, completely over-shadowed by the growing metropolis to the south and the t h r i v i n g community which was springing up on i t s o u t s k i r t s . In 1901 the population of North Vancouver was s t i l l scattered and small, with 365 persons l i v i n g i n the D i s t r i c t and 2,000 i n the C i t y . In that year depressed economic conditions forced the closure of the m i l l s . With-i n a year of i t s incorporation in~19G6, the C i t y , although there had been no appreciable increase i n population, em-barked on a substantial public works programme and thereby caused a large proportion of i t s t o t a l bonded indebtedness; The D i s t r i c t never undertook suds, projects but i t s f i n a n c i a l indebtedness was created i n providing two primary r e q u i s i t e s -roads and water. Another factor causing unstable economic conditions was the intermittent employment of i t s population; i t s own i n d u s t r i e s were i n s u f f i c i e n t and transport to and from employment i n Vancouver, was slow and d i f f i c u l t . The boundaries f o r the D i s t r i c t and C i t y were defined i n 1906, but were amended the following year. The D i s t r i c t was divided into two wards (East and West), each I . Much of t h i s material i s derived from the Earland Bartholomew Town Planning Report on North Vancouver. Valuable information and documentation was also obtained from Mr. Gibbs > :City Clerk of North Vancouver. ( 15) —4— having i t s own c o u n c i l l o r s . From 1907 to 1913 there was a steady growth i n the population; by 1911 there were 2,738 persons i n the C i t y and 5,464 i n the D i s t r i c t . These m u n i c i p a l i t i e s now were equipped with l i g h t , tramway, t e l e -phone and f e r r y service and owned th e i r own water-works system. Besides t h i s , the C i t y boasted 53 business estab-lishments, one bank, two hotels and a school. The D i s t r i c t ' s Municipal H a l l was completed i n J u l y 1911, i n Lynn Valley. I n 1915, representations were made by l o c a l r e a l estate i n -terests for a separate municipality of West Vancouver. They argued that greater progress would be made i n the western portion of Forth Vancouver i f i t had i t s om l o c a l adminis-t r a t i o n . Accordingly, an appeal was made to the P r o v i n c i a l Government and the outcome of these representations was the s e t t i n g up of the D i s t r i c t of West Vaneouvrer. The r e a l estate boom of North Vancouver i n w i i c h both the C i t y and D i s t r i c t m u n i c i p a l i t i e s spared no money on l o c a l improve-ments, gave way to the "slump" of 1913, which i n turn was r e l i e v e d by the war years and the f a l s e prosperity of the post-war period. The stock market crash of 1929 and world depression, affected Forth Vancouver, as i t affected every other community i n Canada. Property-owners f a i l e d to meet t h e i r taxes and the land began to revert to the m u n i c i p a l i t i e s . The bank overdraft increased s t e a d i l y and the market value of Forth Vancouver bonds f e l l . ^ 1 The resulfc. of t h i s economic I . For further d e t a i l see the D i s t r i c t of Forth Vancouver's F i n a n c i a l statements for 1951 and 1932. (16) ; • ~5-catastrophe was that the creditors foreclosed and the City-went i n t o bankruptcy. In December 1932, a Commissioner was appointed f o r the D i s t r i c t ; and i n January 1933, h i s sway was extended over the C i t y . Although both were ad-ministered by one man, no attempt was made to merge the two mu n i c i p a l i t i e s * Municipal services and other expenditures were reduced to a mlftimum while the payment of bond i n t e r e s t was suspended; Since that time, North Vancouver has been r e -deemed from the f i n a n c i a l depression by the industry which World War I I brought to i t s shores. This f a c t , and a decade of sound economic administration,made i t possible for i t to resume repaying bond-hoMers. In Janmary 1943 the C i t y once more elected a mayor and Council; the D i s t r i c t , how-ever, decided to remain under a Commissioner* Business and i n d u s t r i a l development i n North Vancouver has centered around three natural features - timber land and water-frontage* In the twenty-one years between the First.and Second World Wars, the i n d u s t r i a l aspect of the North Shore underwent no great change* In 1914, the main waterfront concerns were ship building yards and lumber m i l l s with a number of active lumber and shingle m i l l s upon the slopes of the surrounding mountains* During the next twenty years the best timber had been cut from these mountains and the larger lumbering i n t e r e s t s had moved farther inland! but s t i l l used the waterfront f a c i l i t i e s of North Vancouver for exporting* Contrary to expectations i n d u s t r i a l enterprises d i d not keep pace with t h i s development but remained more or (17) —6— • les s stationary. The Second World War raised North Vancouver to a place among the foremost i n d u s t r i a l centres i n Canada, by making use of i t s shipyards. As a r e s u l t of the huge con-st r u c t i o n programme and the consequent increase i n employment, a l l f a c i l i t i e s on the North Shore were strained to the utmost. To meet the needs of the defense workers the Dominion Govern-ment i n s t i t u t e d a housing project and 750' houses were b u i l t i n the v i c i n i t y of the yards* The population of North Van-couver increased approximately one t h i r d , bringing a rush of trade to a l l l o c a l business establishments. School Ac-comodation was also overtaxed by the rapid growth of the population during world War I I , On A p r i l 1,1946 a change was made i n the School Act of B r i t i s h Columbia and i t was de-cided that North Vancouver's schools were to be administered under the j u r i s d i c t i o n of a seven member board, with four re-presentatives elected ftfom the C i t y , and three from the Dis-t r i c t , The School population Increased from 2,294 i n 1921 to 3,399 i n 1940. North Vancouver has suffered from a f a u l t y con-ception of future population growth. Subdivisions have been l a i d out f o r thousands where only tens arrived, creating the need for servicces to large areas inhabitated by a sparse population. This has contributed to the f a i l u r e of the muni c i p a l i t i e s to meet t h e i r debts. The experience gained I . North Shore Press, Commercial and Industrial Annual,September 1942, census figures for 1931 set the C i ty ' s population at SB 10 • and the D i s t r i c t ' s at 4788.Population- figures for ^942 a s estimated by o f f i c i a l s at the G i t y H a l l a re : -c i ty 10,000;District 6,200. (18) -7-i n other communities on t h i s continent reveals that a popula' t i o n density of approximately three property-owners per acre i s necessary, i n a normal development, to furnish s u f f i c i e n t funds through taxation to provide essential services. Yet there are few areas of North Vancouver where there i s such population density. The C i t y owns 48.8 per cent of the l o t s i n i t s municipality and the D i s t r i c t 59.9 per cent. This permits the governing bodies, i f they use thei r planning powers, to exercise more control over the future development of these areas than would be possible i f they were i n the hands of priv a t e property-owners. The Bartholomew Report predicts North Vancouver w i l l grow twice as fast as the rest of the Greater Vancouver metropolitan area, and by 1971, instead of 4 per cent of the population as at present i t w i l l accomodate over 8 per cent. Provision has been made for t h i s increase i n the proposals suggested by the report, and great stress has been l a i d on the need for r e p l o t t i n g some of the present piecemeal sub-d i v i s i o n s . I f the population grows as rapidly as the re-port estimates, i t w i l l have far-reaching implications f o r the North Vancouver public recreation movement which w i l l have to extend i t s f a c i l i t i e s to meet the needs of a much larger community. Throughout the years the commissioners and members of the C i t y c o u n c i l have made extensive plans for b u i l d i n g public works and beautifying the area of North Vancouver through boulevards and parks. Although many of these parks provided f o r adequate outdoor recreation, p a r t i c u l a r l y for the young people, yet nowhere was thought given to b u i l d i n g Indoor skating r i n k s , gymnasiums, community theatres or com-munity centres having s u f f i c i e n t room to cover a wide range of i n t e r e s t s for dancing, club groups, hobby groups and so on. As a r e s u l t of t h i s lack of planning for indoor re-creation, the c i t i z e n s of North VatHLCOuver have had to go to Vancouver C i t y f o r many of t h e i r amusements. I t was only recently that the f i r s t community centre movement began i n North Vancouver when, i n 1939, a ' group of interested c i t i z e n s met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Beatty and decided the North Shore needed a recrea-t i o n a l centre with i n t e r e s t groups and a nursery school. They succeeded In obtaining, community p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n buying North Shore Neighbourhood House as a centre and improving i t s f a c i l i t i e s . In 1943, as a r e s u l t of the de-mands of North Vancouver high SCJELOOI students for a gym-nasium, support was obtained from the l o c a l P.T.A., and out of t h e i r combined a g i t a t i o n plans were l a i d to b u i l d the North Vancouver Memorial community Centre. In 1941, Wartime Housing Limited b u i l t Heywaod Community Centre which was furnished and administered by a councillor,placed there through the Tenant Relations De-partment of Wartime Housing, an agency of the Dominion Government. The story of the development of these three centres and their subsequent amalgamation i s the subject of • (20) the following chapters. Eventually, both. North Shore Neighbourhood House and Heywood Community Centre became a f f i l i a t e d with Memorial Community Centre which coordinates and supervises most of the r e c r e a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s i n North Vancouver, In the f i f t y years since i t was incorporated as . a D i s t r i c t municipality, North Vancouver has experienced many of the "growing pains" t y p i c a l of a western torn. When i t was a lumbering centre i t ' s magnificent stands of red cedar and Douglas f i r were r u t h l e s s l y exploited. I t f e l l an easy prey to the r e a l estate boom which swept through the West between 1902 and 1913, and i t was equally susceptible to the "railway fever" of the same period. A f t e r several abortive attempts at i n d u s t r i a l development, the town became the centre of a ma^or wartime industry. I t i s to be hoped that t h i s industry has come to stay i n peace tine:, and that North Vancouver w i l l never again relapse to the status of a purely r e s i d e n t i a l area whose soifce purpose i s t o provide accomodation f o r the workers of Vancouver, There i s now a decided i n t e r e s t among North Vancouver c i t i z e n s i n providing for t h e i r own r e c r e a t i o n a l needs and any leisure-tima programme seems to be assured of adequate pu b l i c support. CHAPTER I I I COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IF; THE RECREATIONAL MOVEMENT OF NORTH VANCOUTER The need f o r r e c r e a t i o n a l f a c i l i t i e s i n North Vancouver gradually became apparent to groups of interested c i t i z e n s , who, through t h e i r voluntary e f f o r t s , brought the matter to the notice of the general p u b l i c . They succeeded i n winning support for the formation of a committee to s t a r t Forth Shore Feighbourhood House as the f i r s t community centre and they repaired and furnished i t by l o c a l e f f o r t . Unlike t h i s agency, Heywood Community centre was b u i l t by the Dominion Government, not by funds collected from the people. However over the years cooperation was obtained from the c i t i z e n s who began to take part i n i t s organization as volunteer leaders, members of i t s committees and participants i n i t s programme. While the incentive for b u i l d i n g Memorial Community Centre came o r i g i n a l l y from Forth Vancouver high school students, who were a g i t a t i n g f o r a new gymnasium, sup-port was soon obtained from the l o c a l P.T.A. and t h e i r plans were expanded to make i t a community centre which would, f i l l the leisure-time needs of the t o t a l community - school stud-ents and adults. This project gained the enthusiastic back-ing of the public and tentative plans were drawn up for i t s construction. Although i t began on the i n i t i a t i v e of a small (22) i group, i t s development has affected every community centre on the North Shore. When i t s buildings are completed i t w i l l be-come the f o c a l point of community a c t i v i t y and w i l l help to coordinate programmes and maintain standards f o r a l l sub-s i d i a r y centres. Origin of Neighbourhood House North Shore Neighbourhood House was established by c i t i z e n s who wanted a community centre to serve as a kindler-garten f o r the children of war workers and as a recreation centre for the young people. Among these c i t i z e n s were Mr; and Mrs. Beatty, who had made th e i r home a centre f o r young boys and g i r l s i n 1939, for dancing, playing games and general l y "having fun". Soon t h e i r home became so popular that they were unable to handle the numbers who gathered there. Mr. and Mrs; Beatty, r e a l i z i n g North Vancouver c i t i z e n s wanted some wholesome leisure-time a c t i v i t y for t h e i r children, c a l l e d t h e i r neighbours together to see what could be done for them. Mr. Roy Hunter, Mrs. Grace Brimicome, Mr. B i l l Holley, Mr. and Mrs. A. V. C o l l i n s , Mrs. Ashcroft, Mr. Ivor Jackson and his mother, Mrs. C o l i n Jackson and others became- interested i n t h i s movement. They held meetings i n t h e i r own homes to discuss where they could f i n d a centre for these children that would be both inexpensive and accessible. F i n a l l y they managed to obtain an old b u i l d i n g , which l a t e r became North Shore Neighbourhood House, for the rent o f a d o l l a r a year. I t was merely a s h e l l ; a narrow, three-storey, frame structure, without doors or windows, which had been (23) a*3— used fat many purposes over the years, but recently had stood empty and deserted. This unprepossessing shack had to serve the purpose of the group for the time being, as they were unable to affor d the rent of anything better. Eventually they planned to b u i l d a new centre; but i n the meantime, with the aid of other c i t i z e n s l i v i n g w i t h i n that area, they showed t h e i r enthusiasm and b e l i e f that there was a r e a l need for some kind of recre a t i o n a l centre i n the d i s t r i c t by scrubbing the building from top to bot-tom and putting i n new windows and doors. In spite of i t having been conceived as a play centre f o r boys and g i r l s , the main emphasis i n North Shore Neighbourhood House over the years has been on run-ning a nursery school, with the mothers r a i s i n g the money to buy equipment to keep i t going. There were a few groups organized f o r grade-school boys and g i r l s i n woodworking, k n i t t i n g , sewing and sports, but no programme was offered to a t t r a c t teen-agers or adults. Development of the Nursery School In 1939, a group of c i t i z e n s , mainly l i v i n g : w i t h i n the d i s t r i c t , Interested themselves i n having the children of war workers cared for while t h e i r mothers worked i n war plants. They elected a Mothers' Club to handle t h i s nursery school for the f i r s t year of i t s organization and made Mrs. Leonard president. They obtained the support of Judge Sar-gent and other i n f l u e n t i a l c i t i z e n s who helped to provide (24) -4-f a c i l i t i e s f o r the school. The following year Mrs. P h i l l i p s Fisher took over as president of the mothers* group and r e -mained i n that p o s i t i o n for four years. She managed to get more prominent people from wealthier r e s i d e n t i a l d i s t r i c t s to j o i n the club and give i t t h e i r enthusiastic support. Un-fortunately, although these people were interested i n de-veloping a nursery school, t h e i r influence on North Shore Neighbourhood House was not altogether b e n e f i c i a l as they tended to dominate the centre, with the r e s u l t that the l o c a l residents withdrew t h e i r support, f e e l i n g themselves completely overshadowed. (1 Mrs. Fisher was very interested i n preschool education, and 'believed, i t was of paramount importance to work with the children when they were very young* The small group, of which she was president, started t h i s f i r s t nursery school i n Greater Vancouver with a c r e d i t of only $15 i n i t s treasury, yet i t gave the incentive f o r nursery schools to be formed i n other parts of Vancouver. Mrs; McNair, better known as Dorothy Livesay f o r her poetry, who has studied c h i l d care under Dr. Blatz of Toronto, handled the nursery school i n 1942, without remuneration, with the help of Mrs. Elizabeth Keeling. In the following year, she carried on i n the school f o r an honorarium of f i v e d o l l a r s a month. At the end of the school year both she and Mrs. Keeling r e t i r e d and In September 1944, Mrs. Fisher hired Mrs. Staples, a trained nursery school teacher, to take her place. A drive was nut on at the Olympic Club to r a i s e 1. Most of t h i s information was obtained through personal i n -terviews with c i t i z e n s who helped i n the organization of Neigh-bourhood House. (25) —5— funds to operate the nursery school for that year and a sub-s t a n t i a l sum was obtained. This enabled the mothers* club to modernize i t and a cook was hired to make hot lunches for the children. Community Chest and Council P a r t i c i p a t i o n . Before long the committee at the head of Neigh-bourhood House found i t was unable to r a i s e funds from North Vancouver to keep the agency going;. In 1943, i t applied to Community Chest ahd Council far a grant to cover i t s pro-gramme expenses and to pay for a f u l l - t i m e d i r e c t o r to ad-minister the centre and at the same time advanced the f o l -lowing plans: either that North shore Neighbourhood House should be enlarged, and service clubs approached for dona-tions to pay the expenses incurred, as that an auditorium should be b u i l t on the adjoining l o t , for $3,600. (Plans had been drawn up for t h i s ; and the council believed a new.site should be considered as so many c i t i z e n s thought the present l o c a t i o n a poor one.) As a f i r s t step i n solving i t s d i f f i c u l t i e s i t was decided that a representative board should be appointed to prepare d e f i n i t e proposals f o r operating and financing i t as i t now stood and a q u a l i f i e d worker be appointed as d i r e c t o r . The suggestion was made that the Community Chest and Council should assume r e -s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r operating expenses, and c a p i t a l expenses could be obtained from other sources. The Budget Committee of Community Chest and Council. .(26) -6-Indlcated that though i t was favourably disposed towards eith e r project, the plans had f i r s t to be submitted to the Board of Directors before any decision could be reached. Eventually i n September 1943, a f t e r further negotiations, Community Chest and Council agreed to give a grant of #6650 a year to North Shore Neighbourhood House. None of t h i s was used f o r c a p i t a l improvements but served only for administrative costs. Unfortunately, as i t was the sole agency assisted i n North Vancouver at that time and situated i n the extreme southern portion of the C i t y i t helped only a small group of North Vancouver c i t i z e n s . (1 Administration of the Programme and F a c i l i t i e s The f i r s t Board of Directors was appointed i n September 1943, as recommended by Community Chest and Council, and Mr. Harold Parker of Lynn Valley, was engaged as f u l l -time d i r e c t o r . He was also Instrumental i n organizing the Sports* Planning Committee of North Vancouver which was active . i n arranging teams for young people i n basketball, soccer, and baseball and obtained help from business firms , to finance them. These teams were coached by volunteers and used North Shore Neighbourhood House as a meeting place. The Norr'ie Report included i n i t s study a d i s -cussion of the a c t i v i t i e s i n North Shore Neighbourhood House at t h i s time. This report pointed out that the only sus-tained programme i n the agency was the day nursery. The I . M a t e r i a l on these negotiations were obtained from Com-, munity Chest and 'Council Minutes of these meetings. (27) - 7 -other intermittent a c t i v i t i e s were leadership training; courses, committee meetings to plan sports' leagues, boys' model b u i l d -i n g group, g i r l s ' sewing group and mothers' a u x i l i a r y . The Norrie Report suggested that more adequate buildings and s t a f f were required. I t also recommended that t h i s should be a l o c a l l y controlled organization and not d i r e c t l y under the Welfare Council, as at present. None of these recommenda-tions were carried out however and i n the subsequent years the programmes remained of l i t t l B consequence. The c i t i z e n s ' p a r t i c i p a t i o n , from the i n i t i a l enthusiastic support,dwindled to almost nothing while the f a c i l i t i e s remained inadequate.^ The Directors were enthusiastic and interested i n Neigh-bourhood House when they f i r s t were elected, then some moved out of the d i s t r i c t , and among those who remained there f o l -lowed a clash of p e r s o n a l i t i e s . Mr. Parker, f a i l i n g to get along with the board as a r e s u l t of t h i s discord, resigned i n 1945. In July, Mrs. Drost, an untrained worker, took over as Director from Mr. Parker. The Mothers' club, with Mrs. Mathison as president, was organized on a sounder basis and arranged many s o c i a l a c t i v i t i e s to r a i s e money for the school. In that year - 1945 - the agency was incor-porated under the Societies Act. Seventy-five per cent of i t s finances came from Coinmunity Chest and Council; with the I . Survey Report of Group Work and Recreation of Greater Van-couver Community Chest and Council,Vancouver, 1948* The purpose of t h i s repcrtjunder the d i r e c t i o n of E.L.Norrie, was to study the recreational needs pf the youth popula-t i o n i n Greater Vancouver and to propose plans to meet these needs; (28) -8-remainder being supplied by fees and voluntary c o l l e c t i o n . Mrs. Drost was assisted by two f u l l - t i m e workers; one a kindergarten teacher and the other a nursery school teacher, and by one part-time assistant. This was a large s t a f f to administer such a small programme which s t i l l mainly con-s i s t e d of the nursery school and kindergarten, but with the l o c a l c i t i z e n s g i v i n g l i t t l e support to the centre, the s t a f f found i t d i f f i c u l t to get volunteers to p a r t i c i p a t e and work on committees. In that year i t had been decided to run both a nursery school and kindergarten. The nursery school was organized from 9:30 to 3 o'clock for the younger children and the kindergarten f o r the older pre-scheol children i n the mornings only., Mrs. Stewart handled the f i f t e e n kind-ergarten c h i l d r e n upstairs and Mrs. Staples took on the nursery school, composed o f t h i r t y g i r l s and boys, down-s t a i r s . The only adult a c t i v i t y carried on was a kinder-garten and nursery school study group co n s i s t i n g of twenty members. There were no groups f o r teen-age g i r l s and boys and only a few clubs f o r those i n grade school. The low enrolment showed the childrens* lack of i n t e r e s t i n the a c t i v i t i e s offered, which were singing (8.members),wood-working (9 members), sewing group (10 members) and a boxing group (45 members). E a r l y i n 1947, the top f l o o r of the b u i l d i n g was condemned and the kindergarten was no longer able to use i t . (29) ' -9- , ; •;• Thereafter the f a c i l i t i e s were even more inadequate with the re s u l t that the kindergarten was dissolved and only the nursery school was carried on for pre-school children. During 194? and 1948, t h i r t y - e i g h t children attended, more than i t had ever had before. Besides the two f u l l - t i m e workers and one part-time? worker a mother helped each day from the mothers* club* This nursery school gives precedence to under-p r i v i l e g e d children,many of whom are cases referred from the welfare worker. A f f i l i a t i o n with Memorial Community Centre In 1947, North Shore Neighbourhood House attempted to gain more f i n a n c i a l aid from community Chest and council* But the Welfare Council decided i t would not be able to give any more grants unless the agency joined Memorial community Centre and f i n a n c i a l a i d was negotiated through that body. Accordingly, a f f i l i a t i o n proceedings began between these two agencies. During these arrangements, North Shore Neighbour-hood House was reorganized. The director was dismissed as the f a c i l i t i e s available were now inadequate for a sus-tained "programme. At a meeting on Septemeber 12, 1947, cal l e d to discuss the proposed a f f i l i a t i o n , i t was agreed that the budget of Neighbourhood House should be incor-porated gradually with that of Memorial Community Centre, s t a r t i n g on January 1, 1948* I t was to give f i n a n c i a l r e-ports d i r e c t l y to the community Chest and Council and copies were to be sent to Memorial Community Centre. .. I t wouM con-(30) • -10- ' - , tinue to operate as an autonomous unit according to i t s con-s t i t u t i o n and a l l programmes already started were to be main-tained, including the nursery school, e x i s t i n g clubs, adult programmes to which the house was committed and services to groups such as room-renting:, The G i r l s * and Boys* Worker was to implement the programme and help organize clubs In the area; Supervision of the administration of Neighbourhood House was to be undertaken j o i n t l y by both boards. Each send« ing a representative to s i t on the other*s board. The Director of Memorial Community Centre was to supervise the s t a f f , b u i l d i n g , f a c i l i t i e s and programme. A l l i t s operating funds were banked with the treasurer of Memorial Community Centre; a l l disbursements were made by him upon agreement with the treasurer. The funds raised by the i n d i v i d u a l clubs were handled by t h e i r treasurers. This agreement, which had the support of community Chest and Council of Vancouver, was subject to r e v i s i o n quarterly, at the request of either party. The committee i n charge of the pre-school c h i l d r e n was responsible for supervising the f a c i l i t i e s and general welfare of the school, including checking on food, budget and so on. Origin of Heywood Community Centre The Dominion Government entered the f i e l d of housing as a war emergency measure i n 1941, using the ser-vices of Wartime Housing Limited, a Crown Company, which (3D .-11-operated under the Department of Munitions and Supply. War-time Housing Limited was incorporated for the purpose of b u i l d i n g houses f o r workers i n those parts of Canada where war Industries had created a serious housing shortage, i n addition to dwelling, houses, the company constructed a num-ber of supplementary buildings - dormitories, s t a f f houses, community centres, and so on. A l l c a p i t a l and operating ex-penses to finance the community centre i t b u i l t i n Heywood came from the Dominion government. The Tenant Relations Department of Wartime Housing appointed counsellors fee." these cojDmunity centres and handled a l l the administration and supervision. Community counsellors were selected on the basis of appropriate q u a l i f i c a t i o n s and were given at teast one week's intensive t r a i n i n g at headquarters, followed by varying periods up to three months i n the f i e l d under the supervision of an experienced worker. Many of these were s o c i a l workers f a m i l i a r with organizing recreational pro-grammes. In Januiary 1947, t h i s Wartime Housing area, i n -cluding Heywood Community Centre, was taken over by Central Mortgage Housing corporation; who gave notice that, unless a reputable agency handled the administration of Heywood Community Centre, the s t a f f was to be withdrawn and i t would be torn down. The members decided some action must be taken to prevent t h i s . They sent representatives to the P r o v i n c i a l Government and to the Community Chest and Council to see (32) -12-what help they could get to maintain t h e i r centre. The Community Chest and Council, wao had just made grant s to Memorial Community Centre and were being asked tp give assistance to other groups, found i t impossible tp give f i n a n c i a l a i d . They recommended i t a f f i l i a t e with Memorial Community Centre who then might ask for increased grants to be shared by both centres. The members decided to do> so i n order to prevent t h e i r community centre from being de-stroyed. Many people i n Hejwood Coinmunity Centre thought, at f i r s t , that Memorial Community Centre was swallowing them up during the a f f i l i a t i o n proceedings. However, much of t h i s f e e l i n g has disappeared as the c i t i z e n s r e a l i z e they are s t i l l able to determine their own p o l i c i e s and only receive f i n a n c i a l assistance through Memorial Com-munity Centre. A f f i l i a t i o n Proceedings Between the Two Centres The Board of Directors of Memorial community Centre approved, i n p r i n c i p l e , the a f f i l i a t i o n of Heywood Community Centre, providing f i n a n c i a l arrangements could be made for the ownership of Heywood»s bu i l d i n g by the City Council or by another re sponsible! body. F i n a l l y , i n 1948, amalgamation of the two centres was arranged on the following terms; Community Chest and Council would aid Heywood Community Centre through an increased grant to Memorial Community Centre*s budget s u f f i c i e n t to cover the (33) -13-sa l a r i e s of the counsellor at Heywood and make a contribu-t i o n towards the programme supplies. Heywood Community Centre would be allowed to maintain i t s own l o c a l autonomy, operating according to i t s own constitution, with repre-sentatives from both centres s i t t i n g on the others' boards. Members from Heywood would also s i t on the programme com-mittee and other committees a f f e c t i n g t h e i r centre. S t a f f members of Memorial Community Centre would be. available. 1 to work with groups i n the community, i f requested to do so. Though i t s s t a f f i s under the supervision of the Director of Memorial Community Centre, there has been no interference with t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s and the Director has given h i s consent on a l l matters of p o l i c y i n the community. Heywood draws up a yearly budget s t a t i n g the estimated income and disbursements for the year. This i s submitted, on approval of t h e i r House Council, to the finance committee of Memorial Community Centre before June, each year. This i s then appended to Memorial Community Centre's budget for submission to the Community Chest and Council finance committee. Funds raised i n Heywood by i n d i v i d u a l clubs aid! committees are handled by t h e i r own treasurers; but any money-making project must have p r i o r endorsement by the Heywood! Board. Constitution of Heywood Community Centre The purposes of Heywood Community Centre have been, defined as follows: a) To e s t a b l i s h a closer, more f r i e n d l y r e lationship among the residents. , b) To bring about a better understanding of community (34) -14-needs. c) To promote better s o c i a l and c i v i c conditions. d) To provide and foster programmes f o r a l l age groups. e) To deal, as f a r as possible, with, problems a f f e c t i n g . the welfare of residents of the community. Unlike Forth Shore Neighborhood House, Heywood Community Centre does not r e f e r to t h e i r administrative body as a Board of Directors, but as a Council. The o f f i c e r s of t h i s Council are chairman, vice-chairman, secretary and treasurer. There are f i v e standing committees - the S o c i a l Committee, which plans and organizes a l l money r a i s i n g events; the H a l l Committee, which plans the schedules and allocates the use of the h a l l ; . t h e House committee, handling a l l house and ground: repairs, making hous.e r u l e s and c a l l i n g together a l l work bees; the Membership committee, which or-ganizes campaigns for membership drives; and l a s t l y , the Budget Committee, which sets club allotments and budgets the finances for the year. Local Support Heywood community Centre was s i m i l a r to other Wartime Housing: community Centres across Canada with i t s members drawn l a r g e l y from the lower income brackets. These residents were mainly transient people who had mowed there to. work i n the shipyards. The centre was erected, as i n other such housing projects, to reduce absenteeism from the shipyards. The desire for i t never came from the peoples, with the r e s u l t that community s p i r i t was lacking:, and there (35).--15-has been some d i f f i c u l t y throughout the years i n obtaining c i t i z e n s * p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the programmes and t h e i r co-operation i n . working on committees and councils. They had become so accustomed to the paternal attitude of War-time Housing - knowing that i f they wanted anything, such as f u e l , the Dominion Government would obtain i t for them -that they had l o s t a l l I n i t i a t i v e . Since 1947, however, the residents have begun to buy t h e i r own houses above Marine Drive and evince a better community s p i r i t and greater willing n e s s to work i n the centre* The threat by Central Mortgage Housing; Corporation to abolish t h e i r h a l l r a l l i e d them to work harder to maintain i t . In short from being merely tran-s i e n t s , doing temporary war work i n the shipyards those who now occupy the houses and use the Centre engage i n a v a r i e t y of occupations and regard themaaLves as members of a settled community. Programme i n Heywood Community Centre When Heywood Community Centre was handled by Wartime Housing, the Tenant Relations Department recommend-ed the council should form a youth advisory committee. The only leaders the counselor could obtain to organize the young people*s groups were high school boys and g i r l s . This was unsatisfactory as they were not interested i n the over-a l l p i c t u r e of the Centre and did not understand! the func-t i o n of the youth advisory committee, on which they refused (36) -16- • to work:. When i t was taken over by Central Mortgage Cor-poration, i t was organized on a d i f f e r e n t basis with the planning of programmes handled by the council. The programme consists of a kindergarten, baby c l i n i c , g i r l s * and Boys* friendship and in t e r e s t clubs and dances; for adults, a l i b r a r y club, regular dances, whist and bingo, badminton club and lad i e s * handicraft club. Pro-B.ec leadership has been a v a i l a b l e since the beginning of Wartime Housing. When Heywood Community Centre f i r s t began, seven years ago, not enough attention was paid to the recreation-a l needs of the children i n the community and great em-phasis was l a i d on entertainment f o r adults. Today, the trend i s reversed, with the children's a c t i v i t i e s being given precedent and only r e s t r i c t e d programmes offered the adults. There i s a need to adjust the balance here to meet the widest possible range of i n t e r e s t s . Origin of Memorial Community Centre In another area of North Vancouver, high school students, impatient at having to walk a mile; and a half to a gymnasium, as they had been doing f o r the,past twenty years, decided to agitate for better sports f a c i l i t i e s i n their school. 1 With the c l o s i n g of the armouries during the war they had been l e f t without any h a l l for exercises or sports* This secved to strengthen th e i r determination to obtain a gymnasium. During the school year of 1943 to 1944 (37) -17-they raised #1000 toward i t s construction through r a f f l e s , dances, candy sales and so on. I t was the custom over the years that the president and vice-president of the Students* Council were automatically members of the l o e a l P.T.A. So the students were enabled to present th e i r case, through t h e i r repre-sentatives, to parents and teachers. The resu l t of t h i s a g i t a t i o n was the formation of a committee organized by the P.T.A., which included Mr. W. R. McDougall, p r i n c i p a l of the North Vancouver high school, to study the p o s s i b i l i t y , of obtaining these f a c i l i t i e s . I t proved impossible to get the School Board to build a gymnasium as part of the school, and, as North Vancouver municipality had just come out of bankruptcy, the C i t y council and D i s t r i c t Commissioner were unable to finance i t . Accordingly, the P.T.A. committee decided the only way to b u i l d a gymnasium and auditorium was to r a i s e the money through community e f f o r t . They sent f o r a l l available l i t e r a t u r e on community centres, gymnasiums, auditoriums and methods of financing community projects, from other r e c r e a t i o n a l centres across Canada. This l i t e r a t u r e unanimously stated that a gymnasium and auditorium couM not be combined successfully i n one h a l l . On March 39, 1944, the committee ca l l e d together a meeting of representatives from more than twenty-five l o c a l organizations, as a sounding board, to ascertain whether the c i t i z e n s of North Vancouver were interested i n bu i l d i n g a gymnasium and auditorium, to discuss the P.T.A.'s (39) ' -18-plans f o r constructing such buildings, and to nominate a committee to plan and organize recreational f a c i l i t i e s throughout the Forth Shore. I t was agreed to recommend the b u i l d i n g of a gymnasium and auditorium adjacent to the high school as that would be the most accessible p o s i t i o n f o r school students. . There was also a p o s s i b i l i t y that the b u i l d i n g might q u a l i f y for any school grants available*. I t was agreed to c a l l the r e c r e a t i o n a l project a community centre, as they planned to use the buildings both night and. day, for c i t i z e n s and high school students. I t was recognized that t h i s committee was poor-l y organized f o r gaining p u b l i c support to finance a com-munity centre, as not every member i n the community was e l i g i b l e to attend. So the members drew up an agenda for a proposed p u b l i c meeting to l e t the c i t i z e n s know what had already been discussed, what money had been co l l e c t e d , and; to appeal for th e i r support i n financing; the project. The public meeting was held on A p r i l 26, 1944, at the H o r t i c u l t u r a l H a l l , and every organization was asked to send two delegates. I t was a great success and had the enthusiastic backing of the press. The p u b l i c approved b u i l d i n g the centre on the ten acre s i t e , across from the high school, and decided they would, use t h i s land ex-c l u s i v e l y for recreational, educational and c u l t u r a l b u i l d -ings* Geographically i t i s i n the centre of North Vancouver (40) -19-but i s somewhat remote from the greatest density of i t s population at the present time. The committee believed, however, that w i t h i n the next ten years the bulk of popula-t i o n would be up to and above t h i s area. The community centre committee was given the power to organize sub-committees, to c a l l p u b l i c meetings, and to act i n other ways to further the bui l d i n g of the centre. Unfortunately the members, appointed at the meeting, was s t i l l not t r u l y representative of the c i t i z e n s of North Vancouver. There were too many teachers, church leaders were conspicuously absent, and the only re-presentative of labour did not appear at any of the meetings. The plans for b u i l d i n g a community centre, which had been drawn up at the public meeting, were passed by the Town Planning commission and were to include i n the f i r s t u n i t a gymnasium, auditorium, some committee rooms, c a f e t e r i a , showers, dressing, rooms, and o f f i c e s . In the second unit i t was proposed to b u i l d a swimming pool, which was to be con-structed l a t e r . Other buildings couM be added, through the years, such as l i b r a r y and skating r i n k . After a j o i n t meeting between the School Board, the C i t y Council and community centre committee, i t was agreed to make; the centre a war memorial, i n honour of the men vito died i n the armed services. The name o f thjs- com-munity centre thereafter became incorporated under the •Societies Act* as the North Vancouver Memorial Community Centre. (41) -20-Financing Memorial Community Centre The community centre committee was empowered, at the o r i g i n a l p ublic meeting, to s t a r t a campaign for financing the building. But f i r s t i t had to f i n d out what the c a p i t a l expenses would be f o r constructing the centre on a scale s u f f i c i e n t to serve the t o t a l needs of Forth Vancouver's c i t i z e n s . A f t e r investigating the costs of bu i l d i n g other community centres, the objective was set at #75,000. Later t h i s was raised to $100,000 when i t was suggested that a swimming pool should be included. Before the campaign was started, there was an In-si s t e n t demand, p a r t i c u l a r l y from the Kinsmen Club, f o r an outdoor pool with the f i r s t u n i t . Upon inv e s t i g a t i o n , however, the c a p i t a l expenses and operating costs were found to be too high. So amother committee was formed, mainly under the sponsorship of the Kinsmen, to build a pool apart from the centre. Memorial community Centre promised to donate money towards the project. The Ways and Means Committee was set up, i n 1945, to organize a house-to-house campaign i n Forth Vancouver to rats.© the money; i t also planned to canvass large Vancouver firms and to explore the p o s s i b i l i t i e s of r a f f l e s . I t was able to persuade the Elks Club to r a f f l e a house and i n v i t e d l o c a l organizations to sponsor s p e c i a l e f f o r t s to r a i s e money* I t already had $10,000 towards the project -$5,000 set aside by the commissioner and $5,000 by the f i r s t Council (42). -21-i n 1943. They were s t i l l short $5000 a f t e r the work of t h i s campaign. ^ Mr.. James S i n c l a i r , M.P., for North Vancouver, inquired whether the Dominion Government would give any a i d i n building the Centre but found that grants for such purposes were not available* However the P r o v i n c i a l De-partment of Education agreed to help when they had approved the community centre plans. Their approval was only re-ceived a f t e r several years of negotiations, on the under-standing that the l o c a l School Board must have access to the buildings on a l l . s c h o o l days. Under t h i s agreement the community centre would have the use of the buildings only af t e r school hours, from 5:30 p.m. onwards and on a l l holidays. I t would rent the buildings from the School Board for a nominal fee of a d o l l a r a year. The committee agreed to c o l l e c t close to 50$ of the t o t a l cost and to> hand i t over to the School Board, who would obtain the r e -mainder from the Department of Education. A l l operation costs f o r the community centre building were to be shared by the School Board and the centre. Money was also to be obtained from fees charged f o r various entertainments, basketball, concerts, and so on and the cafeteria was to be run on a paying basis. Members were to have access to the present high school buildings including the Home Economics I.Donations received were as follows (a t o t a l of $95,000): a) P.T.A.Group $6000 . b) High School students $1000 c) C i t y Council $10,000 d) D i s t r i e t Commissioner $5,000 e) Kinsmen Carnival $15,000 f,Direct Appeal 215,000 gjElks and other Groups $45,000 (43) -22-Department f a c i l i t i e s , I n d u s t r i a l Arts and V i s u a l Education equipment. The o r i g i n a l stimulus which led to the bu i l d i n g of Memorial Community Centre came from within the com-munity. Whereas, Heywood Community Centre was imposed from without by the Dominion Government to create spare-time i n t e r e s t s f or the .shipyards workers. North Shore Neighbourhood House, began e a r l i e r than either of these two centres through the work of community-minded c i t i z e n s l i v i n g ; w i t h i n the d i s t r i c t but l a t e r f a i l e d to maintain t h e i r support. Although these centres were originated i n d i f f e r e n t ways i t was on the c i t i z e n s * p a r t i c i p a t i o n that t h e i r development depended. Eventually,they were amalgamated i n order to prevent any overlapping of re-creational services and they now make possible, between them, a thorough coverage of leisure-time f a c i l i t i e s and programmes for the c i t i z e n s l i v i n g w i t h i n c e r t a i n d i s -t r i c t s of North Vancouver. CHAPTER IV TYPE OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPED The Development of Memorial Community Centre was a slow process. Yet the Board of Directors believed that at a l l costs they must keep the School Board, c i t y council and c i t i z e n s of North Vancouver with them i n t h e i r planning, even though i t took time to negotiate with p u b l i c and private bodies. Lack of public support would mean f a i l u r e i n build-' ing up a recre a t i o n a l movement with Memorial Community Centre*s gymnasium and auditorium as the ce n t r a l body co-ordinating a l l the smaller community centres on the North Shore. The obtaining of architects drawings, i n t e r p r e t i n g t h e i r plans to a new School Board each year and to a new Council every two years, slowed up the construction of the centre; yet progress was steady. The directors thought they could build, a more adequate f i r s t u n i t by having the cooperation of the Council, School Board and Community Centre Society. The following plans took years of negotiations to i r o n out. The Council was to deed the s i t e to the School Board, which, with i t s Department of Education grant, was to match the money raised by the community centre to cover the cost of constructing the b u i l d i n g . This partnership between the three groups (45) would mean saving to a l l as each paid only a share instead of carrying the t o t a l cost alone. Objective of the Centre The plan the Board of Directors agreed upon i n November 1945, was to b u i l d a community centre for North • Vancouver, including the City and D i s t r i c t , whose aims and objectives were as follows -a) . To promote varied educational, a t h l e t i c , dramatic, s o c i a l , c i v i c and neighbourhood programmes i n order to develop community neighbourliness and good! c i t i z e n s h i p ; b) To promote general i n t e r e s t i n municipal a f f a i r s ; c) To promote any or a l l objects of a national, p a t r i o t i c , philanthropic, charitable, s c i e n t i f i c , a r t i s t i c , s o c i a l , p r o v i n c i a l or sporting character. Membership i s open to a l l interested c i t i z e n s , over eighteen, whose home or business i s i n North Vancouver. There are two classes of members - active and honorary. An active member i s e n t i t l e d to one vote and must pay a membership fee of f l . 0 0 a year. An honorary member has no vote but must show an i n t e r e s t i n the centre and be accepted by the membership and Board of Directors before he Is e l i g i b l e . Any member, who i s not i n good standing;, has no voice i n the meetings unless he i s given that p r i v i l e g e by a two-t h i r d s vote. The Annual General Meeting i s held i n February of each year; but s p e c i a l meetings may be called by the president on the demand of the directors or by a p e t i t i o n signed by not l e s s than ten per cent of the membership. Ten per cent of the active membership i s a quorum. (46) -3-The Board of Directors must not b& composed of more than s i x t y nor l e s s than twenty members. At the Annual General Meeting, not l e s s than t h i r t e e n persons are to be elected, while two members are to be appointed respresent-ing the Council, two members representing the Commissioner of the D i s t r i c t and tvo. members representing the Board of School Trustees. Other d i r e c t o r s are also to be appointed or elected representing twenty prominent organizations i n North Vancouver, i n v i t e d by the executive to have a member on t h e i r Board of Directors. These men and women take o f f i c e a f t e r the Annual General Meeting and r e t i r e at the end of each year. They are always e l i g i b l e for r e - e l e c t i o n or re-appointment . The nominating committee must be appointed by the Directors at leas t one month before the Annual General Meet-ing, to present the names of suitable candidates for members of the board. The general membership votes on t h e s u i t a b i l i t y of these candidates at the Annual Meeting,. The f i r s t meeting of the directors i s c a l l e d by the president two weeks a f t e r the Annual Meetings. The directors must meet at least quarterly. Their duties i n -clude choosing the executive committee composed of the president, f i r s t , second and t h i r d vice-presidents, record-i n g secretary, corresponding secretary and treasurer. Honorary presidents are also chosen. The directors must i n -struct the members of the executive committee i n t h e i r duties (47) -4-they, i n turn, are responsible to the directors 1 for t h e i r actions. The standing committees are appointed by the General Meeting, or by the executive, and vary i n number depending on the work undertaken to meet the leisure-time needs of the community. The standing committees, are the Pro gramme Committee, organizing programmes; the Public Relations Committee, i n t e r p r e t i n g the work of the community centre; the Building anil Grounds Committee, drawing: up plans for the buildings and c a l l i n g for tenders from contracting; firms; the Finance Committee, handling the finances for buildirg; the centre; the. Membership Committee, responsible for ob-t a i n i n g new members and the Ways and Mean Committee, r a i s -ing money to finance th e i r programmes; The Programme Com-mittee, from time to time, organizes more standing: com-mittees for s p e c i f i c purposes i n c l u d i n g the planning of the gymnasium, the auditorium and so on. The Board of Directors has power to appoint any additional committees when they seem advisable and to designate t h e i r duties. Standing committee chairmen are i n v i t e d to attend executive meetings. Amendments to the constitution can only be made by a two-third majority at the General Annual Meeting. But such amendments must be i n the hands of the secretary at l e a s t two weeks p r i o r to the General Meeting. Two (48) -5-auditors are appointed yearly to inspect the books of the organization. The by-laws can be altered at any General Meeting:. The president of the board must act as chairman at a l l meetings and enforce the observation of the con-s t i t u t i o n , r u l e s of order and by-laws. He must announce the r e s u l t of a l l voting and c a l l s p ecial meetings of the directors when the need ar i s e s . I t i s h i s duty to give o v e r a l l supervision to the a f f a i r s of the community centre. C i t y Council P a r t i c i p a t i o n i n Memorial community Centre In 1945 the C i t y Council had been approached by the Memorial Community Centre board to ascertain how far they would support the community centre movement* There was at f i r s t some opposition from the C i t y council because several of the members thought the School Board had too much say i n i t s a f f a i r s . As North Vancouver was expecting a grant for Westview School (Wartime Housing Project Area) from the Department of Education, the C i t y Council pointed out there probably would be no grant a v a i l -able for the gymnasium and auditorium and said they would only go wholeheartedly behind; t h i s scheme i f they received a l e t t e r from the Minister of Education or the Mi n i s t e r of Finance reaffirming their f i n a n c i a l support. Mr. McDougall wrote on June 6, 1945 to Dr. S. J . W i l l i s , Superintendent of Education i n V i c t o r i a , asking him to approach the (49) -6-Ministers and have them explain the Department of Education's p o s i t i o n i n the community centre project. I t took a long time to get an answer but eventually a l e t t e r was received from the School Board guaranteeing a grant from the Depart-ment of Education, In July, 1945, the community centre committee submitted t h e i r plans f o r the bui l d i n g to the Ci t y council who approved them. A meeting took place i n January 1946, when the di r e c t o r s and C i t y Council stated they were i n favour of the School Board p a r t i c i p a t i o n , thus s e t t l i n g a long standing difference. At t h i s time the C i t y Council made the following suggestions. The park area, bounded by 23rd Street, 25th Street, Lonsdale Avenue and St, Georges* Avenue should be made ava i l a b l e f o r the estab-lishment of the community centre. A complete ground plan ' should be made f o r the use of t h i s area showing the loca-t i o n of the different u n i t s , with proper provision for parking areas. The Council thought plans should be pre-pared for an auditorium and gymnasium as the f i r s t u n i t , giving the estimated cost of construction. On completion of d e f i n i t e plans a p p l i c a t i o n should be made to the provin-c i a l government for the promised grant i n a i d of the pro-j e c t . They believed e f f o r t s should be continued to r a i s e funds for ad d i t i o n a l u n i t s when material and labour would be ava i l a b l e . The community centre committee accepted the (50) -7-advice of the C i t y Council and had plans drawn up by the ar c h i t e c t , Mr, Bow. I t was pointed out by the C i t y Clerk that before the community centre would be able to have a corner of the park opposite the high school, a by-law to that ef f e c t must be passed by the voters. Permission was eventually ob-tained i n 1947, from the people, through a p l e b i s c i t e . The City Council had the Park Dedication By-Law, Number 894, passed s e t t i n g aside t h i s land for construction of Memorial community Centre. ^ In October 1946 a l o c a l women's group organized the house-to-house canvass which had been planned the previous year by the Ways and Means Committee and sent folders to a l l the c i t i z e n s i n North Vancouver asking for f i n a n c i a l assistance to b u i l d Memorial Community Centre. The r e s u l t of t h i s appeal netted approximately $15,000. School Board P a r t i c i p a t i o n i n Memorial Community Centre Eventually a j o i n t committee was formed com-posed of two members from the c i t y council, two from the School Board and two from the community centre to study the plans already made and see i f some agreement could be reached acceptable to a l l p a r t i e s . They decided at t h i s I . By*law Number 894, of the Corporation of the C i t y of North Vancouver, issued i n 1947. This set aside Block 216 which has become the property of the City, through tax sales proceedings for park purposes, recreation ground or such other public purposes as may from time; to time, be necessary and expedient. (51) -8-meeting that i f the project was under the Board of School Trustees then the b u i l d i n g should be ava i l a b l e to the students of North Vancouver on a l l occasions they might r e -quire i t . i n t h i s way the community centre would q u a l i f y for the Department of Education grant which would cover 40$ ( l a t e r raised to 50$)- of the cost of the building; to be erected according to the plans and specifications approved by the government a r c h i t e c t . As many of the c i t i z e n s of North Vancouver were s t i l l unconvinced that the School Board p a r t i c i p a t i o n was desirable, i t s proposed cooperation with the community centre was c a r e f u l l y outlined at a meeting open to a l l so that any misunderstanding should be cleared up. They were t o l d that the School Board had unanimously approved the p r i n c i p l e of j o i n t p a r t i c i p a t i o n with the Council and community centre committee, and had n o t i f i e d the Department of Education that the community centre would i f necessary reduce the s i z e and number of rooms i n the gymnasium-auditorium b u i l d i n g to keep the p r i c e below #150,000* The public also heard that part of the park used for the s i t e would be transferred to the j u r i s d i c t i o n of the School Board. ^ 1 In 1948, the indenture was signed between the Board of School Trustees and Memorial Community Centre providing that i n return f o r acquiring the park land the school Board should be able to use the b u i l d i n g f u l l y for both school and community recreation. Memorial community Centre agreed I. Minutes of the F i r s t Board of Directors' Meeting,March 8,1945 (52) -9-to pay the School Board h a l f the cost of the land, of prepar-ing the s i t e , of the buildings and of equipment. The School Board would construct a gymnaslum-auditoritm at a t o t a l cost not exceeding $150,000 according to the plans approved by both p a r t i e s and designed by William Bow, the a r c h i t e c t . The t i l e and ownership of these buildings would be i n the name of the School Board. The School Board agreed to grant; the use of the buildings on non-school days and a f t e r 6 p.m. on school days to Memorial community Centre for a term of twenty-five years at a nominal fee of $1.00 per year; reserving the r i g h t to use the building, after 6 p.m., for a t o t a l of 52 nights a year for special occasions f o r school a c t i v i t i e s . Both p a r t i e s might arrange f o r interchange of times at t h e i r convenience. Memorial Community Centre might use c e r t a i n school rooms a f t e r 6 p.m. which were suitable for carrying out t h e i r programmes f o r four nights each week:. Before t h i s term expired both p a r t i e s would enter into negotiations to renew the agreement or to r e v i s e i t on terms mutually ac-ceptlble. I f no agreemnt could be reached i t would be sub-mitted to a r b i t r a t i o n . The cost of heat, l i g h t and j a n i t o r services f o r the gymnasium and auditorium would be shared equally by the School Board and Memorial Community Centre during the f i r s t year and afterwards would be shared i n any manner agreed upon. Memorial Community Centre would pay the cost of a l l ( 5 3 ) • -10-damages caused to the gymnasium, or auditorium while using the bu i l d i n g . The upkeep of, the grounds would be borne by the School Board. For ten years, a f t e r completion of the buildings, the school Board contracted to carry insurance i n i t s name on the centre and guaranteed, i n the event of t o t a l or par-t i a l l o s s or damage,to use the insurance to replace the buildings and f a c i l i t i e s . The cost of premiums f o r the i n -surance, was divided equally between the two p a r t i e s . Pub-l i c l i a b i l i t y insurance would be carried by both the Memorial Community centre and the School Board. Memorial community Centre agreed to carry on only those a c t i v i t i e s which were i n l i n e with i t s aims and objectives and promised to keep the School Board f u l l y informed of a l l i t s programmes i n t h i s building. Neither party might assign any. of i t s r i g h t s without the wr i t t e n consent of the other. Programme Development i n Memorial Community Centre The programme of Memorial Community Centre was started under adverse conditions as the b u i l d i n g for which people had donated t h e i r money was not yet ava i l a b l e and they found i f d i f f i c u l t to.envisage any a c t i v i t i e s without one. Yet they did make a s t a r t by u t i l i z i n g the e x i s t i n g f a c i l i t i e s throughout North Vancouver. The executive approved the p o l i c y of appointing a Community Counselor and consulted Community Chest and Council and Miss Thomas, Professor of Group Work at the (54) -11-Un i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, on the requireiosnts necessary In J u l y 1946, they agreed to have Mr. A. D. Dewar as d i r e c t o r and decided to pay him an annual salary of between $2000 and $2500; $600 of which was available from the Department of Education. The remainder was to be financed from various sources - one t h i r d coming from Pro-Ree; one t h i r d from Community Chest and council and one t h i r d from North Van-couver City/ council* They also appealed for f i n a n c i a l as-sistance from various service clubs and l o c a l groups. The Kinsmen's Club contributed approximately $5000 making i t possible to procure the services of Mr. Dewar as director forthwith and to proceed with a programme of a c t i v i t i e s during 1946, including physical education, night school classes and a programme l i k e the Y.M.C.A. So-Ed; i n the high school and other buildings. A r e n t a l insurance was taken out on the buildings which were being used u n t i l the time when the gymnasium and auditorium would be b u i l t . The treasurer was instructed to meet the i n i t i a l programme; ex-penses up to $100. To obtain A. D. Dewar as Executive Director, an agreement had to be signed witft the Y.M.C.A., with which he had a contract, promising that the centre would! not. put on any programmes which would v i o l a t e Y.M.C.A. p r i n c i p l e s . However, i t was decided to keep Y.M.C.A. p a r t i c i p a t i o n at a minimum to conform with the desires of the North Vancouver (55) -12-publ ic . After A. D. Dewar had been there a year it 'was agreed they drop this agreement and make him completely i n -dependent. The Y.M.C.A. operates a specialized programme, whereas the community centre attempts to meet the needs of the to ta l community. i n December 1946, Mr. Dewar stated that the pub-l i c considered the evening classes should be conducted by the community Centre and not by the School Board, i t was unanimously decided, at a meeting called to consider the matter, that they should thereafter be conducted i n the Community Centre's name. The School Board named.Mr. Dewar director of their Night School and had to approve the flourses offered and the qualif ications of the instructors; thus enabling them to qualify for grants from the Departments of Education. This money would be paid to the Community Centre to cover th i r ty per cent of the instructors ' salaries and jan i tor ' s wages. A l l other expenses would be paid from the Centre's own account. When Memorial Community Centre hired A. D. Dewar, they asked the School Board to allow him to use the high school building where he was given an office and school rooms for the community college programmes two nights a week the f i r s t year, and four nights the second year. I I To get the programmes underway, Mr. Dewar, on De-cember 30, 1946, sent out c i rcular let ters asking how many people were interested i n having a Saturday Night Dance Club, badminton club, ping-pong leagues, L i t t l e Theatre (56) -13-groups, leadership clubs, adult service clubs and special interest groups. Then on January 6 he called together an organizational meeting to enrol membership and appoint com-mittees. At the same time i t was decided to put on a special Saturday "Night programme i n the Hort icul tura l H a l l making certain clubs each responsible for organizing i t ap-proximately once every five weeks. Mr. Dewar appointed a committee of women, who were interested i n forming a ser-vice group, to handle refreshments. At the end of this-, f i r s t programme year of Memorial Community Centre, Mr. Dewar reported a membership enrolment i n the night school classes of approximately 300 members. He was instructed by the Board of Directors to investigate the Pro-Ree or- • ganization and was encouraged to continue h is work with the boxing group, for the purpose of establishing: a boxing club the following year. The Sports Planning Committee which was begun five years ago, with much of the planning stimulated by . Harold Parker, arranged schedules and generally handled the organization of team sports i n North Vancouver. The money for the equipment and transportation to matches was donated by sponsoring companies and clubs. A l l young; people were e l i g i b l e for these sports a c t i v i t i e s ; but the teams tended to be organized i n such a competitive manner that only the good players attempted to enter. There were no ( 5 7 ) -14- •; membership fees and a l l coaching: was free, conducted by l o c a l c i t i z e n s interested i n encouraging sport. The play-ers practised i n any available h a l l or f i e l d i n Forth Van-couver. In return for cooperation from t h i s body, Memorial Community Centre promised to a s s i s t i t i n i t s e f f o r t s to promote organized sport on the Forth Shore ant members r e -presenting each group attended the others* committee meet-ings. Yet the two groups have, on the whole, f a i l e d to . work together harmoniously and better r e l a t i o n s should be worked out i n the future. F a c i l i t i e s for Memorial Community Centre Though i t was found necessary to begin the com-munity programmes without t h e i r own building, the Beard of Directors believed they must attempt to get construction started as soon as possible.before l c e a l opinion turned against them. They had to choose between the following al t e r n a t i v e s : an i n d e f i n i t e postponement to await lower costs; r a i s e the funds to the f u l l value required to com-plete the buildings as now designed; or to modify the plans, by omitting one u n i t . Mr. McDougall was against having an i n d e f i n i t e postponement, as he believed i t would have a dampening ef f e c t on pub l i c opinion, so suggested that, as bu i l d i n g costs were s t i l l so high, they should s i m p l i f y t h e i r plans. The o r i g i n a l requirements for the auditorium and gymnasium had been set down at a meeting of the Buildings (58) -15-and Grounds Committee on October 25, 1945 as follows -a) Auditorium 1. Seating capacity 750 - 1,000 2. Theatre type of stage 3. Dressing room f a c i l i t i e s 4. Provision f o r projection room 5. Administration rooms 6. Foyer and. r e s t rooms b.) Gymnasium 1. Floor - minimum 90 X 68 2. Provision for piano i n orchestra balcony 3. Storage space f o r gymnasium, equipment 4. Instructors* o f f i c e s 5. Minimum height for gymnasium - 24 feet 6. Provision for medical room with wash basin 7. Ticket o f f i c e 8. Possible balcony 9. Minimum seating capacity of 400 10. Dressing rooms 11. Storage space 12. Check room 13. Separate dressing rooms, t o i l e t s and showers for- men and women.. The committee had planned to b u i l d the c a f e t e r i a to seat 500 students, to have adequate storage space and cooking f a c i l -i t i e s and to have a centralized heating u n i t for the whole building. Other rooms were a l s o proposed - loungeroom, extra rooms for meetings, lunch bar and so on. Mr. William Bow said the cost of the gymnasium and auditorium including the? above requirements might run from |125,000 to f135,000 but added that t h i s figure might be raised i f the cost of materials and labour increased. Accordingly, i t was decid-(1 ed toiireduce the size and number of rooms i n the gymnasium I. Fourth meeting of Public Relations and Building and Grounds Committee, 1946. (59) -16-, and auditorium building, eliminating the gr id, kitchen wings, dressing rooms off the scenery dock, kitchen on the gym-nasium floor, 35mm. projection room and to shorten the ba l -cony. They agreed to f in i sh the building as inexpensively as possible and referred tha simplified plans to the a rchi -tect. A meeting had been held of the Buildings and Grounds committee, on December 5, 1947 to reconsider the community centre plans i n view of the recommendations sub-mitted by Mr. Bartholomew and Associates. In their report i t was suggested that an area of approximately ten acres i n size which had been cleared for community centre purposes, across from the North Vancouver high school, should be made into a community p layf ie ld to accomodate both competitive games and mass recreation. This, i t was considered, would be increasingly valuable for pupils attending the high school. The western side of the park could hold tennis courts, swimming; pools and play areas for small childram with the rest made into playing f ie lds and park lands. The-reportstated that the park's potential usefulness would be impaired by using any part of i t for the community centre buildings which they suggested should be located across the street on the south side of twenty-third avenue behind the Hor t icul tura l H a l l . Many of the directors were disappointed at the proposed change of location for Memorial community Centre, as the building would not be so prominent and i t might only (60) -17-appeax as an adjunct of the high school. But they did not wish to make an issue of i t , when so many c i t i z e n s agreed with the Bartholomew recommendations. Another factor was that the C i t y Council would not back up the directors i n op-posing i t and they did not wish to create a r i f t which might have the effeot of bringing up again the whole vexed question of cooperation between the Ci t y Council and School (1 Board; At the 1948 Annual Meeting they agreed to accept the Bartholomew recommendations and to s t a r t with the gym-nasium and ca f e t e r i a at a cost of approximately $75,000 and postpone b u i l d i n g the Auditorium and a swimming pool t i l l l a t e r . The new plan was approved by the Department of Education i n V i c t o r i a and tenders were c a l l e d . At the Building and Grounds Committee Meeting, on October 19, 1948, i t was found that only one tender had been submitted for the b u i l d i n g and that one was not i n a form acceptable to the executive. I t was then necessary to consider what further steps should be taken and i t was de-cided that the School Board should make a second request for tenders with some modification i n the. terms and on an a l l - i n -clusive basis, as cer t a i n contractors had been u n w i l l i n g to bid before because the main sub-trades were excluded and tenders from them c a l l e d separately. The postponement of the bui l d i n g of a pool badly I . Bartholomew, Harland, Preliminary Report of the Parks, and Schools, Vancouver, 1948. . (-61) , -18-disappointed the Kinsmen who had supported the Memorial Com-munity Centre since the beginning and r a i s e d funds through their J u l y Carnivals up to 1948, when thei r donation of $10,000 was given to the City Council for a swimming pool to be b u i l t at Mahon Park which was to cost approximately (1 $35,000. A committee was set up to plan the building and financing of t h i s pool composed of three members, one from the Council, one from the centre and one from the Kinsmen. Community Chest Membership In 1946, Mr. McDougall had suggested that the community centre should approach community Chest and Council to t r y to q u a l i f y , through t h e i r work i n the following years for f i n a n c i a l assistance to cover leadership s a l a r i e s and op erating expenses. In response to Mr. McDougall»s appeal, the executive made application to become* a f i n a n c i a l l y - par-t i c i p a t i n g member of Community Chest and Council. This was referred to the Group Work D i v i s i o n i n J u l y , 1946, who de-cided to investigate Memorial Community Centre to discover whether i t was e l i g i b l e f o r such membership and i n the mean-time admitted i t as an organizational member. The question of i t s admission as a f i n a n c i a l l y - p a r t i c i p a t i n g member was held over u n t i l the- following: c r i t e r i a were established; -I . The estimated swimming pool costs were - pool $11,500; bathhouse, $10,000; r e c i r c u l a t i o n equipment, $8,000; heating, §3,000; sundries, $25,000; a t o t a l of $35,000. (62) -19-1. Is t h i s work necessary? 2. W i l l i t be able to sustain these programmes? 3. Is i t rendering an adequate standard of service? The Memorial Community Centre has demonstrated that i t s work i s necessary by supplying the c i t i z e n s of North Van-couver with such leisure-time a c t i v i t i e s as w i l l s a t i s f y (1 t h e i r four basic recreational needs. I t has shown i t s a b i l i t y to sustain i t s programmes through the funds i t ; has colle c t e d . During 1947 grants were received from the Kins-men's Club of North Vancouver, the Department of Education for Night School classes and Pro-Rec, from memberskip fees of d i f f e r e n t clubs such as drama, boxing and s o c i a l ac-t i v i t i e s and from two service clubs. (The question was raised why the municipality had not given i t s f i n a n c i a l sup-port and i t was shown that at present i t was not i n a p o s i -t i o n to make outright grants to organizations because of i t s previous bankruptcy, but i t had cooperated i n giving the community centre the use of buildings and park properties rent f r e e l Through i t s entertainments and membership fees, the Memorial Community Centre plans to r a i s e 30$ to 50$ of i t s om budget. I t i s apparent that i t i s rendering an adequate standard of service as it'has shown i t s a b i l i t y to work with public bodies - the City Council, School Board I . See Chapter I, Page 2, for statement given of four basic recreational needs. (63). -20-and Pro-Rec. I t has employed as i t s executive d i r e c t o r a community organizer recognized by the School of S o c i a l Work and an accredited Y.M.C.A. worker. I t i s prepared to work with an already established r e c r e a t i o n a l agency - Neighbour-hood House - and to eliminate unnecessary overlapping of services by cooperating with r e c r e a t i o n a l organizations i n other areas such as Lynn V a l l e y and Deep Cove. Eventually on June 18, 1947, the application of the centre for f i n a n c i a l l y - p a r t i c i p a t i n g membership i n the Community Chest and council was approved, on the basis of the c r i t e r i a established. Operating Cost of Memorial Community Centre F i f t y per cent of the money was obtained f o r operating costs from Community Chest and Council; while the remaining f i f t y per cent was collected from service clubs, private donations, C i t y council grants, membership fees, programme revenues and grants received from the Pro-v i n c i a l Government for community college and f o r Pro-Rec a c t i v i t i e s . The membership fee was a d o l l a r a year and i n addition to t h i s i n i t i a l payment there was a programme fee for each s p e c i f i c group, which varied i n amount with the a c t i v i t y , and depended on the expenses involved. The most important item i n the 1948 budget was saiary for personnel - for an Executive Director, Physical Education and Boys' Worker, Teen-age and G i r l s ' Worker and a Part-Time re c r e a t i o n a l s p e c i a l i s t i n the f i e l d s of c r a f t s , music, drama and sports. A l l three agencies drew (64) -21- ' up expense accounts which they submitted to Coinmunity Chest and Counoil whose grant fcr the year 1948-9 amounted $8000. This budget i s large as i t showed, for the f i r s t time i n North Vancouver, the overal l cost of i t s recreational and socia l agencies. Previously money was raised and spent without; any-one knowing the to ta l cost for a l l the ac t iv i t i e s i n the di f -ferent centres. Through combining North Shore Neighbourhood House and Heywood Community Centre with Memorial community Centre approximately $9000 v/as added to i t s to ta l budget. But i n fact i t cost nothing extra to have those two centres a f f i l i a t ed , other than administrative time, as they collected their own funds to be added to the Community Chest and coun-c i l grants, to complete their yearly budget. At this early date i t i s possible only to make a tentative assessment of the achievements of these three centres. i n the two years of i t s existence, Memorial Com-munity Centre's programme has been steadily enlarged, and i t now attempts to serve a wide range of interests i n North Vancouver. The programme of North Shore Neighbourhood Houste, with i t s inadequate f a c i l i t i e s , has remained sl ight and of l i t t l e consequence. Heywood'Community Centre has slowly developed community s p i r i t , with the result: that today i t has obtained more of the support of l o c a l ci t izens on com-mittees and as volunteers and handles adequate programme to meet the needs of the children. More emphasis mus:t now c be placed on ra is ing the standard of the adult programme from one mainly devoted to amusement to one of a cul tural and educational nature. CHAPTER V . FACILITIES, LEADERSHIP AMD PROGRAMME IM 1948 In discussing how adequately Memorial Community Centre, Heywood Community Centre and North Shore Neighbour-hood House meet the re c r e a t i o n a l needs of North Vancouver c i t i z e n s i n 1948 i n terms of t h e i r programme, leadership and f a c i l i t i e s , i t i s essential to remember that Memorial Com-munity Centre has only maintained a programme for two years, North Shore Neighbourhood House a l i m i t e d programme for nine years, and Heywood Community Centre a programme for seven -years. I n view of t h i s short period of time for- organizing recreational a c t i v i t i e s , there has been l i t t l e chance to de-velop a high standard of programme continuous from year to year. Such recreational a c t i v i t i e s as have been practised i n these centres, at the demand of some l o c a l enthusiasts or 051 the i n i a t i v e of personnel, have been continuously evaluated by the s t a f f to ascertain to recreational tastes of the coimminity. With t h i s experience they hope to es-t a b l i s h a basic continuity of programme that w i l l enable the in d i v i d u a l members to develop greater s k i l l and enjoyment i n these a c t i v i t i e s . To a questionnaire sent out to. one hundred and f i f t y Board members of the three centres, who have served over the (66) -2-(1 past three years, eighty-four answers were received. These men and women who responded expressed a genuine interest i n their centre and a desire to improve or praise certain as-pects of i t s programme, leadership and f a c i l i t i e s . They did not take i t s future growth for granted but their constructive c r i t i c i sm proved conclusively that they believed i t to be their responsibi l i ty and that they had to play an integral , part i n i t s development. From the questionnaire findings, i t was apparent that three-quarters of these ci t izens have been active i n the centres since their inception and the majority of their families took part i n some of the act iv-i t i e s . Although they made suggestions for improvements, none of them appeared to believe these centres were with-out a function i n the community. With such support thet re-creational movement has one of the strongest assets on which to develop. Leadership i n Memorial Community Centre i n 1948 The Programme Committee of the Memorial Community Centre's Board, studying the work to be undertaken by i t s staff, defined what should be handled by the Executive Director, the G i r l s ' and Teen-age Worker, the Boys' and Physical Education Worker, the Part-time Adult Worker and the Stenographic Workers. An examination w i l l be made of these recommendations i n the following paragraphs to as-certain how adequately they have been carried out. I . See Appendix A (67) - 3 -The Executive Director i s responsible for the supervision and administration of the to ta l programme of Memorial Community Centre and i t s a f f i l i a ted centres and the extension programme i n other areas such as Deep Cove, Lynn Valley and Capilano. He has to handle the business administration and supervise the work of the office staff, •which consists of the stenographer-bookkeeper, the partQ time stenographer-receptionist, evening worker at Memorial Community Centre, part-time stenographer at Neighbourhood House and volunteer office workers. He has to supervise the programme staff, the Boys' and Physical Ed&catLon Worker, the G i r l s ' and Teen-age Worker, the Counselor and Kindergarten Teacher at Heywood Community Centre; the Nursery School Teacher and Assistants at North Shore Neighbourhood House and the part-time adult programme worker. He must check the work of seven University of Br i t i sh Columbia f i r s t year group-work students, who function under the close super-vis ion of a supervisor placed there by the University Depart-ment of Social Work, and personally supervise one second year group work student. He must also oversee the work of the j a n i t o r i a l staff i n the three centres and of the part-time i n -structors, twenty-six i n a l l , i n community college night school class and Saturday morning children's classes. He has to see that the recommendations of the standing committees from the Board of Directors are carried out and kefp them i n touch with the functioning of the three centres. He i s ind i rec t ly responsible to the board and com-(68) -4-mittees at Neighbourhood House, the council and committees at Heywood community Centre and other extension programme committees. The direct responsibi l i ty for these centres l i e s , of course, with their own s taffs . He must maintain good relations with the f i lm council and other loca l groups and attend meetings of the various community organizations, Community Chest and Council committees and university super-visors* committees. The Executive Director has supervised and adminis-tered this large programme conscientiously and kept i n close touch with a l l the programmes of the three agencies through staff meetings, frequent v i s i t s , telephone ca l l s and reports; He has also tr ied to make himself available for consultation to his s taff at any time. His relationship with them has been on a good and friendly basis. There i s a considerable* amount of c r i t i c i sm of Memorial Community Centre made through the loca l papers and by individual groups, par t icu la r ly the Sports Planning Committee. The Executive Director i s f a i l -ing to obtain the backing of these groups either through per-sonal contact or by describing the work of the osntre through press, radio and public speeches. There i s a definite lack here i n the work of public relations i n the centre both i n i t s contact with the ci t izens as a whole and witlfc certain in f luen t ia l people. Constructive c r i t i c i sm i s good, but con-tinuous destructive c r i t i c i sm may seriously affect the whole recreation movement and w i l l only be deflected iff' more and • (69) better public relations work i s carried out. Although the Executive Director has had no pro-fessional training i n soc ia l work, he was trained for re-creational work i n the Y.M. C. A, in-service training pro-gramme, i n Montreal. He has also had a number of years ex-perience, with the Y.M.C.A. , pa r t i eu la r i ly i n the f i e l d of community organization which has. admirably f i t t ed him for working i n North Vancouver. . , • The centre employs a Teen-age and Gir l s* Worker who is responsible for the organization, operation and supervision of g i r l s ' interest and friendship groups. This worker has to organize and supervise the Summer Fun programme i n a f f i l i a t ed and non-affi l iated agencies. She mus-.t also sup' ervise volunteer leaders and form good relations with the University of B r i t i s h Columbia supervisor and students work-ing with groups related to her programme. She must work ' closely with the Programme Committee i n Memorial Community Centre which organizes teen-age ac t iv i t i e s throughout North Vancouver. As Counselor at Neighbourhood House, where she has her off ice, she must co-ordinate their programmes and. i s . responsible to the Board for her work i n the centre. She supervises their nursery school staff, janitor and voluntary leaders. The Board -of Directors eventually wish to have two people handling th i s work. The qual i f ica t ion they desire i n those workers i s a university degree i n social work, with specializatiiohi-,.;In group work and community organization. (70) The present worker has had one year's training i n group work. The interest and friendship groups i n North Shore Neigh-bourhood House which are handled by volunteers and are super-vised by th is worker, do not have stimulating leadership and (1 the programmes are weak; with the result that the membership i s small and unenthusiastie. There i s a strong feel ing among the ci t izens of North Vancouver that these groups, f a i l i n g to u t i l i z e the group work method adequately, are not (2 helping the growth and development of the individual members,. This shows a definite weakness and need for more careful super v i s ion by the leader. Her Sumner Fun programme has an ap-proximate enrolment of 300 members. I t i s working success-f u l l y i n outlying d i s t r i c t s and helps to interprete to these ci t izens the purpose and function of Memorial Community Centre She also handles a business g i r l s ' club and i s helping to or-ganize the Senior Ci t izens ' Club. She i s forming a good relationship with the University supervisor and students and helps them to become familiarized with the community, i t s c i t izens and the f a c i l -i t i e s of the three centres. She has to help in the organiza-t ion of Teen Town - which has approximately 300 members - and works with i t s council and i t s subcommittees. She has been 1. The enrolment was poor - for example i n 1948 s t a t i s t i c a l reports shows Club 21 has four members; Puppet Club has four members, Story Tel l ing Group has seven members and Ping-Pong Group-eight members. 2. Two thirds of 84 people who answered the questionnaire (150 sent out) stated they thought the leadership for I^ieneLship Groups was inadequate. (71) - 7 -suocessful i n furthering i t s many a c t i v i t i e s , such as good dances and plays. Formerly Teen Tom was host i le towards. Memorial Community Centre but now they are w i l l i n g to co-operate with i t i n whatever way they can. she works i n an advisory capacity i n Deep Cove* Capilano and Lynn Valley, aiding the cit izens i n setting up programmes and' coordinat-ing their community a c t i v i t i e s . This work helps to bring: about a closer bond of friendship between these outlying communities and the central body. The most important part of her work: has been individual supervision of volunteers and guidance through group conferences. She has also help-ed to stimulate volunteer part icipat ion i n the centre by conducting a leadership training course. The Physical Education Director and Boys* Worker i s responsible for working with the Sports' Planning com-mittee of North Vancouver. He has to organize, operate and supervise the sports programme. He i s also responsible for arranging committees for the physical programme council, which includes representatives from the boxing committee, tennis club, badminton club, Upper Lonsdale youth groups and etc. He must supervise the Pro-Ree ac t i v i t i e s within the Memorial Community Centre, and i t s affiliasted agencies (part-time instructors are provided by Pro-Rec for these classes.) He has ctp organize physical instruction classes for young people and adults and to handle ping-pong and tumbling groups i n North Shore Neighbourhood House and (72) • -8-the Upper Lonsdale area. He must supervise the work of volunteer leaders* university physical education students and university socia l work students who help with the physical programmes, , He checks on the ac t i v i t i e s i n chesterfield School, i n the Upper Lonsdale area, where several teams, physical education classes and clubs use th i s centre afternoons and evenings. He must assist the teen-agers with certain phases of the Teen Town programmes. The board believes the posi t ion of Boys' and Physical Education worker should eventually be under taken by two persons with the following qualif icat ions; for the; Boys* Worker, a man with a university degree i n Social work, with special izat ion i n group work and coinmunlty organization for the Physical Education Director, a man with a physical education degree i f possible, or one who has had a number of years* experience i n the physical education f i e l d . The Physical Education and Boys* Worker t r i es to prevent his a c t i v i t i e s from overlapping with the competitive sports which are handled by the North Vancouver Sports Plan-ning Committee. He has attempted to work harmoniously with this group but has fa i led u t te r ly . Both groups continue to misunderstand each other. The Sports Planning Committee i s strong enough to hurt the work of Memorial Community Centre with i t s vicious attacks. Better Interpretation and public relations must be made with this body by the Physical Education worker. His work i s l imited to handling sports, ( 7 f ) -9-mainly boxing, swimming, tennis and badminton i n Chesterfield School arid the D r i l l H a l l and one ping-pong and one tumbling club at Neighbourhood House. He supervises Pro-Rec classes ' but has no physical education students to supervise and few volunteers. He also works with two f i r s t year group work students. Unlike the good relationship formed by the. Teen-age and Gir ls* Worker he f a i l s to work wel l with the teen-agers finding them antagonistic and uncooperative. He has had no professional t raining i n physical education or group work. This worker needs to concentrate on obtaining,.more volunteers and encouraging? them to handle groups by conduct-ing Leadership Training courses i n physical education. The leadership that i s available for sports ac t iv i t i e s has been thought to be goody according to the questionnaire findings, but there i s not emough of i t . The work of the adult programme worker i s consider-ed a three-quarter time posi t ion by the Board of Directors. This worker i s responsible for the development and super-vis ion of adult recreation programmes including sudan act iv-i t i e s as 'Community Players ' , the Yfomen*s Council (serviae club) friendship add interest clubs for adults and weekly publ ic i ty i n l o c a l and da i ly papers. She has to work close-l y with the public relations* committee of the Memorial Com-munity Centre, and i s responsible for membership drives i n the three centres. The Adult Programme Worker works only half-time at Memorial Community Centre. She has had dramatic training (74) -10-at Pasadena Playhouse and handles the .'Community Players' w e l l . This group puts on .a number of f u l l length and one-act workshop plays each year, maintaining; a high dramatic standard and great technical excellence. Enthusiasm and interest is; maintained amongst the members of the club and North Vancouver (1 audiences thoroughly enjoy their performances. Her public relations work mainly consists of wri t ing weekly columns for the two North Vancouver papers l i s t i n g the events i n thex, three centres. This i s not sufficient to interpret their a c t i v i t i e s and more publ ic i ty work should be done by each, of the s taff members. She does not have time to handle membership or any adult friendship or interest clubs; but works with the Women's Council which raises money for the centre. The stenographic s taff consists of a ful l- t ime worker and two,part-time workers. The full- t ime worker i s the bookkeeper who looks after the administrative work of the three centres. Programmes i n North Vancouver i n 1948 The Teen Town programme was o r ig ina l ly sponsored by the Vancouver Dai ly Sun, but a group of parents i n North ' Vancouver asked Memorial Community Centre to supervise this • a c t i v i t y as they thought i t was being run i n a most d i s -organized manner. The Gir ls* Worker undertook i t s super-v is ion and helped the young people to plan better programmes I , A l l the answers to the questionnaire stated that the leadership i n this club was excellent and that they en-joyed watching i t s performances. ( 7 5 ) - l i -ana to increase their a c t i v i t i e s . This reorganized Teen Town has now obtained the approval of the majority of the parents whose children take part i n i t s programme* I ts ac t i v i t i e s consist of regular dances,, a drama club, music appreciation club, old-time dancing and a craft club; i n the sports l ine , i t has organized basketball, sof tba l l , bowling and ping-pong-. Representatives from Teen Town s i t on Community Chest and Council 's Teen-age Committee. Teen Town i s a f f i l i a ted with Memorial Community Centre whose director i s now their o f f i c i a l advisor; but i t controls i t s own finances and s t i l l wishes to maintain some of i t s autonomy. I t was arranged between the two groups that, as Teen Town uses Memorial community Centre f a c i l i t i e s free of charge, i t should give a sizeable annual contribution towards i t s maintenance. Teen Town also has a voting delegate on the Board of Directors of the coinmunity centre. The courses i n the community college offer a wide range of subjects including automotive mechanics, elementary schooling, art , cooking, Saturday morning classes f o r - c h i l -dren on art , drama, folk dancing, ba l le t , tap dancing and handicrafts. Twenty-four classes are given, a l l wel l at-tended. The night school or community college i s a co-operative venture between Dis t r i c t 44 School Board and the Memorial Community Centre. I t was agreed between the two groups that the project should be under the supervision of the director of the community centre, who was appointed (76) -12-director of Night Schools by the School Board. This arrange-ment, i t was thought, was most l o g i c a l as Adult Education would have a greater appeal to the general public under the auspices of the centre. By cooperation with the School Board, grants from the provincial and federal governments could be obtained to help cover th i r ty per cent of instruct ional costs. This subsidizing by the^government of Night School lowered the fees and brought them i n l ine with the students* a b i l i t y to pay. The majority of the ci t izens who answered the: ques-tionnaire, took part i n the night school classes and thought their leadership was good, although a few considered i t was inadequate. These ci t izens believed there should be more emphasis on cul tural ac t iv i t i e s i n the classes and i n the to ta l programme of the centres. The Senior Ci t izens ' Club, which was recently or-ganized, plans to cooperate with a l l organizations on the North Shore which are sympathetic to i t , for the purpose of obtaining suitable dwellings for aged c i t izens . The club plans to obtain f a c i l i t i e s to promote the well-being; and enjoyment of i t s members. I t also hopes to stimulate public interest i n increasing their pensions through social l eg i s l a t ion . The club fee i s $1.00 a year and a l l men and women f i f t y years and older are e l i g ib l e . Although this, club has been too recently organized for i t to be possible to evaluate i t s programme, yet the findings of the questionnaire (77) . -13-show that i t has the support and interest of the majority of c i t i zens . The attendance i n the three centres far5 the month of November including the girls '*, boys* and adults* ac t iv i t i e s was typ ica l , and: showed a to ta l of over 100 separate commit-tees, subcommittees, groups, clubs or classes, d i rec t ly or Indirect ly under the Memorial Community Centre sponsorship, with 602 sessions and an over -a l l attendance of 10,027. Proposed F a c i l i t i e s i n Memorial community Centre i n 1948 Anaideal community recreational building should serve a multitude of uses* Mamy plans have been made for the Forth Vancouver Memorial Community Centre. The memb-ers would l i k e to use the gymnasium i n the daytime for physical education each school period, and for games and noon-hour ac t i v i t i e s ; and i n the evenings for sports, d i s -plays, and dancesj. witk seating accomodation for 100 spec-tators. The auditorium, to hold seven hundred and f i f t y people, could be used i n the daytime for noon-hour pro-grammes and at night for plays, concerts, movies and mass meetings. The basement would! be. used for a cafeteria, banquet h a l l and rooms for meetings, corrective exercise rooms, showers and lockers. The cit izens agree i n the questionnaire findings that a new gymnasium or auditorium w i l l solve many of the problems a r i s ing from inadequate f a c i l i t i e s of the three (78) -14-eentres. The chief lack i n the past has been a gymnasium; but the cooperation i n the community i s such that schools and organizations have made their f a c i l i t i e s available^ for the centre. The rooms i n the high school, after the com-munity : centre i s bu i l t , w i l l continue to be used for night school classes for four nights a week and al l -day Saturday. The Hor t icul tura l H a l l w i l l also be available for a l ib ra ry , and the Scout H a l l and Chesterfield School w i l l be used by Pro-Rec, youth groups and boys* town. Heywood community Centre A c t i v i t i e s i n 1948 ^ The Counselor i s responsible for the development, organization and supervision of the to ta l programme i n Hey-wood Community Centre. She supervises the work of tha part-time jani tor , part-time kindergarten teacher and voluntary leaders, and i s responsible to the council and sub-committees for a l l her work. The to ta l programme includes kindergarten, junior friendship and interest clubs for boys and g i r l s , teen-age a c t i v i t i e s , Pro-Rec classes, adult friendship, interest and socia l clubs. The qual i f icat ion desired by the board i n the counselor of an a f f i l i a t ed agency i s a university degree i n socia l work with special ization i n group work and community organization. The counselor of Heywood Community Centre i s an untrained worker but had a few years prac t ica l experience i n leisure-time a c t i v i t i e s as a volunteer leader, then as a (79) -15-part-time worker and now i s ful l- t ime director. With he>r strong personality, she has managed to build up the young peoples programme which formerly was weak and has obtained excellent cooperation from residents i n the d i s t r i c t The position of kindergarten teacher i s part-time and includes teaching from nine to twelve Monday through Friday and overseeing the volunteer assistants, she i s re-sponsible to the mothers* club of the kindergarten for work-ing with the children. The qual i f icat ion desired by the board i n the teacher -is recognition by the Kindergarten Teachers* Association and by the provincial department of Social Welfare. The present, kindergarten teacher i s such a qualified worker. She manages to obtain excellent co-operation from the children*s mothers. The enrolment at the school i s th i r ty - f ive children. Other a c t i v i t i e s i n th i s centre consist of a baby c l i n i c , boys* and g i r l s* interest and friendship clubs, and "Open House" for g i r i s and boys aged 13 and up where they play games and dance. In October 1948, fourteen members were elected to a Junior Council to plan programmes for the youth groups. This council has charge of "Open House" and holds dances onee a month. I t decided there would be- closed dances with entrance by membership cards only. On Wednesday afternoons from 4 to 5, "Open House i s held for the under 13 g i r l s and boys. The membership fee for Heywood Community Centre i s one dollar a year for seniors, f i f t y cents a year for intermediates, 13 to 19, and twenty-five cents a year ( 8 0 ) • -16-for juniors. Other junior programmes are Junior Forest Wardens, badminton, guides and dancing lessons. A Summer Fun Programme i s organized for the young people; with women's handicraft, the l ib rary club, badminton, the kindergarten auxi l iary , and socia l ac t iv i t i e s for the adults. Pro-Rec classes are held for a l l ages. The administration of the programme i s handled by the Senior Council. The young peoples' groups are par t icu lar ly popular and the parents show their appreciation and support by acting as volunteers to help with the programmes, and by working i n the kinder-garten aux i l i a ry . The f a c i l i t i e s in thei r building consist of a large h a l l surrounded by offices, a workshop, storage f a c i l i t i e s and rest-rooms. North Shore Neighbourhood House i n 1948 The Counselor for Neighbourhood House i s also the Teen-age and G i r l s ' Worker as stated before. She sup-ervises the limited programme of the agency and works with i t s committees and board. The Nursery School Teacher i s responsible for the nursery school programme, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for forty children. She supervises the part-time nursery school teacher and volunteers. v She i s also re-sponsible to the mothers* club of the nursery school for her work with the children. The Board requires i n their teacher a person recognized by the Kindergarten Teachers* Association and one who i s accepted or cer t i f ied by the (81) • -17-provinoial department of Social Welfare. The present worker i s a trained nursery school teacher and has main-tained a large enrolment of underprivileged children i n the school. 1 A part-time teacher helps at the peak periods during the day and works with the mothers* committee of the nursery school. She handles the Stenographic work and general office- routine. She has taken t raining i n nursery school teaching. There are a few g i r l s* and boys* friendship groups, ping-pong and boys* tumbling, a l l of -which have a low enrolment showing that the children l i v i n g i n the d i s t r i c t are unenthusiastic about the leadership and that the programme i s not meeting their needs. In the la t te r half of 1948, some of the group work students organized friendship groups for rougher youngsters i n that area. They worked sympathetically with these young people and helped appreciably to turn them to more socially-accept-able ways, and to f i l l their leisure time with constructive a c t i v i t i e s . Throughout the year ten groups used the f a c i l i t i e s regularly. The dance classes for th i r ty - f ive children are very popular under the direction of Mrs. Wilmot. The Women*s Auxi l ia ry i s active i n r a i s in s money for the nursery school throughout the year by means of. (82) -18-rummage sales. However the rundown condition of North Shore Neighbourhood House, with i t s small rooms, narrow windows and dark, wal ls , tends to give amy occupants a depressed feeling and makes it d i f f i c u l t for leaders ofT groups to stimulate joyous ac t iv i ty amongst the membership Through the interchange of staff and the develop ment of good basic programmes i n each of the three North Vancouver agencies, the years ahead undoubtedly w i l l see a r i s i ng standard of recreational ac t iv i t i e s and the remedy-ing of many of the present weaknesses and inadequacies. CHAPTER VI . CONCLUSION" The recreational movement of North Vancouver i s now on the threshold, of a vast new development with the building of the auditorium-gymnasium proceeding at long l a s t . The majority of the ci t izens are prepared, to par-t ic ipate i n i t s progress and make i t an integral part of their l i v e s . Although any accurate assessment of i t s achievements and failures i s not possible at th is point, as i t s emergence i s so recent; yet certain trends may be noted and attainments, discussed i n previous chapters, recapitulated. Heywood Community Centre was provided far the residents by the Dominion Government and did not develop from the 'grass roots ' of the community, yet the community s p i r i t i s gradually emerging as the residents are now. buy-ing their homes, and no longer l i v e as transients., The threat of having the staff withdrawn and their centre pulled down by Central Mortgage Housing, Corporation con-tributed to changing their feel ing of apathy, and united them i n saving i t . Now, through c i t i zens ' part icipat ion, more ac t iv i t i e s have developed i n their programme, par-(84) -2-t i c u l a r l y for the children, v/ith volunteer leadership from among themselves. The members are learning, to take a share i n the responsibi l i t ies of the centre and work on i t s com-mittees, demonstrating that i t has attained rea l worth for those l i v i n g in. the area. North Shore Neighbourhood House, on the other hand, whose beginning was an example of a rea l need and! desire for a recreation centre, shorn by the residents' effort to obtain and repair the old building, has declined; as much of this voluntary support has fal len away* Several factors have contributed to this s i tuat ion. The dominance on the committees by wealthier c i t izens from other parts of North Vancouver, who helped to organize programmes for the children, but did not themselves participate i n amy of the Centre's a c t i v i t i e s , tended to alienate the loca l residents. Another important factor was the dreary, inadequate house which discouraged many of the would-be workers. There was no room large enough for any sports, dances or concerts; so, except for a day nursery and a few groups for grade school children, l i t t l e use was made of the rooms. Any adult par-t i c ipa t ion i n the centre was merely to help maintain the nursery school. The leadership stressed organizing; pro-grammes for the children and did not encourage ac t iv i t i e s for adults. I t i s to be hoped that more adequate f a c i l i t i e s w i l l be available i n the future; but, i n the meantime, an effort should be made to quicken the interest of lo&ai (85) - 3 -cit izens in. a wider recreational programme and to induce them.to share i n administering the centre, rather than having i t run by people l i v i n g outside the d i s t r i c t and taking no share i n i t s a c t i v i t i e s . Although Memorial Community Centre started la ter than either of these others, i t arose from a genuine need . and desire on the part of a broad section of the people. I ts infi.uence i s already f e l t throughout North Vancouver with such major ac t iv i t i e s as Night School classes and the 'Community Players ' obtaining membership from widely scattered parts of the community and showing, by their large enrolment, how enthusiastically i t i s supported by the general publ ic . There i s a demand that more and better socia l ac t iv i t i e s should be organized for adults and a l -though there i s good leadership for the sports ac t iv i t i e s (1 yet many people would l i k e to see more of them offered. The eighty-four answers to the questionnaire were a l l received from citizens who had worked on the Board of Memorial Community Centre and though they were helpful i n assessing the feeling of responsible ci t izens to that centre, i t was regrettable that none came from members of the Councils of Heywood community Centre and Neighbourhood House. I t would have been interesting to compare their re-I . This valuable information on Programme was obtained from the questionnaire findings. (86) spouses to the questions. Possibly the more ambitious pro-gramme and promise of better buildings has quickened interest i n the newest centre. A significant fact which emerged from several of the answers was that the second! largest group of members on the Board of Directors, supervising and organiz-ing the programmes'of the three centres, only worked i n an advisory capacity. These men and TO men did not participate i n the ac t iv i t i e s and were apt be become autocratic and out of touch with the actual feeling of the membership as a whole. I t seems highly desirable that greater effort should be made to induce part ic ipat ing members to take re-sponsibi l i ty , f i r s t on committees, and then on the Board* In th is way membership and Board would become of one ac-cord i n working toward certain aims and objectives.agree-able to a l l . To maintain and encourage such par t ic ipat ion i s of v i t a l importance and the centres w i l l only continue to grow i f they obtain volunteers from the membership i n carrying out genuine needs. Other suggestions, emerging from the questionnaire, were to obtain more and better leadership training courses i n specific programme s k i l l s and i n methods.of conducting parliamentary procedure. I t was pointed out that such courses would help to strengthen the confidence of volunteer workers i n their a b i l i t y to lead groups and wauld also give them a feeling- of being an essential part of their centre. Greater attention and ef-fort , i t was thought, must be placed on interpreting- the (87) - 5 -work of the centre. through the radio, press and by public speeches. Good public relations work should also be em-phasized by every individual s taff worker. The consensus of opinion, from the questionnaire findings, was that &hese centres are playing an important ; part i n the l i ve s of Worth Vancouver cit izens but there were s t i l l definite weaknesses i n the leadership and pro-grammes. More emphasis should be placed on cul tura l groups, sports and old people's groups, and above a l l more volunteer workers from the membership should be encouraged and adequately trained through leadership training courses. In surveying, the recreational movement i n North Vancouver as a whole i t i s apparent that i t s weaknesses have arisen from inadequate c i t i zens ' part icipat ion and their i n a b i l i t y to envisage the interre la t ion of the several parts: i t s strength from a growing awareness of the need for such part ic ipat ion and a willingness to under-take individual responsib i l i ty . The fears expressed by the subsidiary agencies that their amalgamation with Memorial community Centre would weaken them and infringe on their autonomy w i l l not be realized i f they, maintain an active and vigorous membership, and i f the central agency resis ts the temptation to dominate, while offering to help with i t s s k i l l e d Instructors and modern equipment, i n fact (88) -6 -a l l should find themselves immeasurably strengthened by the association. With an adequate central building, the-, guidance of s k i l l e d workers and f u l l c i t izens ' support North Vancouver may bring Into existence a nssw form, of com-munity development which w i l l be a real iza t ion of the; plan-ning of recreational experts and set a pattern to be f o l -lowed a l l over this continent. BIBLIOGRAPHY A. Background References 1 . Bartholomew, Harland, Preliminary Report of the Economic Background and Population i n North Vancouver, Vancouver, 1948. 2. Bartholomew, Harland, Preliminary Report of the System of Parks and Schools i n North Vancouver, Vancouver, 194:9. 3. Canada: A National Housing Policy for Canada, The Canadian Welfare Council, Ottawa, September, 1947. 4. Financial Statements for the City and D i s t r i c t of North Vancouver, North Vancouver, 1929 - 1947. 5. Henderson's B.C. Gazetteer and Directory, Henderson Publishing Company, Vancouver, 1890 - 1923. 6. Housing i n Canada : A Factual Summary, Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Ottawa, October 1946. 7. North Shore Press Commercial and Industr ial Annual, September, 1942. 8. Woodward-Reynolds, K . M . , A History of the City and D i s t r i c t of North Vancouver, Thesis for Master of Arts, U . B . C , 1943. B. Recreation References 1 . Colcord, Joanna c , Your Community, Russell Sage Foun-dation, New York, 19W. 2. Community Recreation Survey: Grand Junction Recreation Commission Inc i , Grand Junction, 1945. 3. Coyle, Grace, The Group,"Group Work as a Method i n Re-creation," American Association of Group Workers, V o l . 9, A p r i l 1947. 4. Elsom, J . C . , Community Recreation, The Century Company, New York, 1929. 5. Hjelte, George, The Administration of Public Recreation, MacMillah Company, New York, 1940. 6. Memorandum of the Fields of Public and Private Re-sponsibi l i ty i n Recreation and Group A c t i v i t i e s , Com-munity Chest and Council, Vancouver, 1949. - 2 -7. Romney, G. Ott, The Group, "The F ie ld of Recreation," American Association of Group Workers, V o l . 9., A p r i l , 1947. 8. Slavson, S. A. Recreation and The Total Personality, Association Press, New York, 1946. 9. Sorenson, Roy, A Community Plan' for Recreation and Youth Services For Los, Angeles, Los Angeles, 1945. 10. Standards, Playgrounds, Playfields , Recreation Buildings, N. ' R. A . , New York 10,'New York, 1947. 11. Steiner, Jesse F . , Recreation and Morale, Department of National Education Association, Washington D.C. , 1942. 12. Survey Report of Group Work and Recreation of Greater Vancouver, Community Chest and Council, Vancouver, 1948. C. Sources far the Study I . Minutes of Meetings (a) Minutes of the Memorial Community Centre*s Board of Directors Meetings - 1946-48 (b) Minutes of the Memorial Community/ Centre's Standing Committee Meetings - 1946-48 (c) Community Chest and Council Meetings with North Vancouver agencies - Memorial Community Centre, Heywood Community Centre and North Shore Neighbourhood House - 1939 - 1948. I I . Interviews (a) Programme staff of Memorial Community Centre and i t s a f f i l i a t ed agencies. (b) Prominent members of the three centres including Mrs. P h i l l i p s Fisher, Mr. W. R. McDougall. (c) Information and use of c i t y office f i l es from the City clerk of North Vancouver. I I I . Questionnaire An evaluation of the programme, leadership and f a c i l i t i e s i n 1948 obtained from a sample of North Vancouver c i t i zens . NAME. AGE. (If over 21, "A" w i l l s u f f i c e ) ADDRESS. Are you employed?. „ Give occupation How much l e i s u r e have you per day?. Week-ends? . , _ Evenings per week?. Housewife? hours hours hours How many hours do you usually spend at the centre? Are you a member of North Vancouver Memorial Community Centre? . , North Shore Neighbourhood House? ..r • Heywood Community Centre? How many years have you been a member of t h i s agency? . 4 1 . To which clubs do you belong? 2. 1'Vhich of these do you prefer (please mark by 1,2,3, i n order of importance) 1 . Y.W.C.A.' . ... 2. I.O.D.E 3. Red Cross Society ............., 4. Soroptomists ................... 5. Junior League ., 6. Altrusa Club 7. North Vancouver Memorial Community Centre 8. Heywood Community Centre 9. North Shore Neighbourhood House Other (specify) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 9. Movies Bowling Public dances Public meetings & lectures Meeting at friends* homes ...... Private club a c t i v i t i e s ........ North Vancouver Memorial Community Centre Heywood Community Centre North Shore Neighbourhood House Other (specify) 3. Do members of your family take part i n : Do they regard the leadership, f o r these groups, as: ACTIVITY PARENTS CHILDREN GOOD AVERAGE INADEQUATE 1. Night School Classes 2. Friendship Groups 3. Sports A c t i v i t i e s 4. Kindergarten 5. Soc i a l A c t i v i t i e s 6. Drama Groups 7. Cra f t Groups Other Groups (specify) 5. Do you feel'"this programme meets the needs of the people. I f not, should there be a greater emphasis on: (num-ber i n the order of importance) 6. What kind of r e c r e a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s did you enjoy most, t h i s past year? Indoors 1 . Sports Groups 2. Children's Groups .. 3. Old Peoples' Groups 4. C u l t u r a l A c t i v i t i e s 5. S o c i a l A c t i v i t i e s 6. Arts & Craft Groups 7. Night Classes Others (specify) Outdoors 7. Have you any suggestions f o r improving the leadership and organization of these groups? (specify) NAME AGE i l f over 21, "A" w i l l s u f f i c e ) ADDRESS. Are you employed?_ Give occupation How much l e i s u r e have you per day? How many evenings have you per week?. How much l e i s u r e on S a t u r d a y ? .(Weekdays) (Weekdays) .on Sunday? How many hours do you usually spend at the centre? Are you a member of North Vancouver Memorial Community Centre? North Shore Neighbourhood House? Heywood Community Centre?. How many years have you been a member of t h i s agency? . 1. To which clubs do you belong? Which of these do you prefer (please mark by 1,2,3, i n order of importanoe) 1. Kinsmen . .. - .... 2. Kiwanis - ...... 3. Y.M.C.A. . ... ...... 4. Board of Trade , ... 5. Junion Chamber of Commerce ..... 6. Elks 7. North Vancouver Memorial Community Centre 8. Heywood Community Centre ....... 9. North Shore Neighbourhood House Other (specify) 1. Movies 2. Bowling 3. Public dances 4. Public meetings & lectures 5. Meeting at friends* homes 6. Private club a c t i v i t i e s ........ 7. North Vancouver Memorial Community Centre 8. Heywood Community Centre ....... 9. North Shore Neighbourhood House Other (specify) 3, Do members of your family take part i n : 4, Do they regard the leadership, for these groups, as: ACTIVITY PARENTS CHILDREN GOOD AVERAGE INADEQUATE 1. Night School Classes 2. Friendship Groups 3. Sports A c t i v i t i e s 4. Kindergarten 5. Soc i a l A c t i v i t i e s 6. Drama Groups 7. Craft Groups Obher Groups (specify) 5, Do you f e e l t h i s programme, meets the needs of the people. I f not, should there be a greater emphasis on: (num-ber i n the order of importance) 6. What kind of r e c r e a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s did you enjoy most, t h i s past year? Indoors 1. Sports Groups 2. Childrens' Groups .. 3. Old Peoples' Groups 4. C u l t u r a l A c t i v i t i e s 5. S o c i a l A c t i v i t i e s 6. Arts & C r a f t Groups 7. Night Classes Others (specify) Outdoors 7. Have you any suggestions f o r improving the leadership and organization of these groups?(specify)