Lions Gate

Ann Turner is the financial and budget manager of the University of
British Columbia Library.

Arching serenely over the First Narrows of Howe Sound, Vancouver’s
landmark Lions Gate Bridge has been at the centre of controversy for
most of its 60-plus years of existence. This history of the bridge was
conceived during one such conflict, the “replacement debates” of
1993. The authors realized that although the building of Lions Gate was
within the living memory of many residents of the area, there was
extraordinarily little public knowledge about its origins.

Drawing on interviews, the personal papers of families involved in the
bridge’s history, and published sources, the authors have pieced
together a story of political intrigues that reads like a novel.
Lavishly illustrated with historical photographs and quotations, their
carefully documented research begins with the difficulties of obtaining
approval and funding for the bridge in a minefield of warring
self-interests and a wildly fluctuating economy. The design and building
of Lions Gate, a significant feat of engineering, is detailed and
illustrated step by step to its opening in 1938. It was a remarkably
trouble-free project that was finished ahead of schedule, but then the
conflicts began again. Questions of increased traffic volumes versus the
green space of Stanley Park and the Howe Sound shoreline, repair of the
aging bridge versus replacement, and land-claims issues continue to
surface and put the bridge in the news on a regular basis. Its story is
ongoing, and we are richer for knowing its past.