[BCMA] CMA Clip Serv: Wanted: Room for a museum

Thu May 17 12:42:07 PDT 2012

Locating patients in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside will not give them much
of an advantage of where they live now.  The Riverview Hospital buildings
are very usable, have wonderful grounds and can offer a "new life".  The
shutting down of hospitals treating mental illness was also one gigantic
push from the bleeding hearts who now blame all levels of government without
looking into the mirror.

There is a museum at Riverview and the Riverview Hospital Historical Society
do a great job along with the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society who
conduct tours and promote the wonderful horticulture on the site.   The
SPARC Radio Museum is also located at Riverview.   Riverview is very well
maintained and functionable.  The biggest future problem is that the lack of
use of the many buildings and large tract of land make it a great financial
target for the provincial government to sell off for development.  Now thnis
is a cause worth fighting for.

Ron Hyde 

  _____  

From: bcma-bounces at lists.vvv.com [mailto:bcma-bounces at lists.vvv.com] On
Behalf Of Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 4:46 PM
To: bcma at lists.vvv.com
Subject: Re: [BCMA] CMA Clip Serv: Wanted: Room for a museum

How about a Vancouver Downtown Eastside location?

So many of the inmates discharged willy-nilly of this Institution landed up
there that it would be poetic justice.

The big push in North America during the latter part of the 20th Century to
shut down asylums and release the residents with the aim of new mental
health drugs to control behaviours did not work well at all, if we consider
the ongoing problems of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, addictions,
street violence, or severe psychoses so many of these souls face - now
virtually on their own.

Then our Federal politicians, spurred-on by privacy advocates, passed laws
that put patients' rights ahead of their health, meaning that unless a
person either seeks medical help themselves or is an immediate risk to life
or limb, they cannot be compelled to even take their medications, far less
be detained for 72 hours of psychiatric review,

Any honest museum dedicated to Riverview Hospital surely would include a
gallery dedicated to a sequel such as this.

Dan Gallacher 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Moderated BCMA  <mailto:bcma at lists.vvv.com> subscriber listserv. 
To: bcma at lists.vvv.com 
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 10:01 AM
Subject: [BCMA] CMA Clip Serv: Wanted: Room for a museum

Wanted: Room for a museum 
Diane Strandberg, Tri-City News, Wednesday, April 18, 2012 

A collection of artifacts that tell the story of 100 years of mental health
care at Riverview Hospital is being put into storage but not abandoned. 

Heritage advocates are lobbying for museum space in Coquitlam to showcase
hospital equipment, furniture and uniforms, and the health authority
responsible for Riverview is also looking for space to house the collection.

"We are working with the historical society to find an appropriate
location," said David Weir, spokesperson for the Provincial Health Services
Authority. "There needs to be an appropriate location to house the
collection," Weir said. 

Weir said the health authority has to vacate the buildings it leases from
the provincial government through Shared Services B.C. as part of a
long-planned closure of the hospital involving the relocation of patients
and services to new facilities being developed in B.C. communities. For
years, the health authority has leased space 
in the Industrial Services Building on the Riverview lands for the items
collected by the Riverview Historical Society, but that building is closing
at the end of May. 

"Because we lease the space, we have a deadline to get out of the hospital
buildings," explained Weir, who said the remainder of the hospital will
close by summer, including the administration buildings. 
The scheduled closure of Riverview Hospital for this summer has raised
numerous concerns about the future of the 244 acre site. But the immediate
concern is what to do with the historical collection, which chronicles the
change in methods and philosophy of mental health care over a century and
has been the subject of much study 
by students and others working in the field. 

In March, the Coquitlam Heritage Society renewed its call for a museum to
house the collection as well as other archival material languishing in
basements throughout the city. Coun. Craig Hodge, a former president of the
society who currently chairs the Riverview Lands Advisory Committee, agreed
the city needs a permanent 
museum to store Coquitlam's heritage artifacts and the hospital collection. 

Heritage assets 
"The city is aware that throughout the city there are a number of heritage
assets that the city has to preserve so they will be there for the future,"
Hodge said. 

Although the city has Mackin House in Maillardville, a period home
reflecting life in the early days, it is unsuitable for storing a large
collection, Hodge said. However, he predicted the city's 125th anniversary
in four years could provide an opportunity for developing a strategy for
preserving and exhibiting Coquitlam's historical items. 

"We have an opportunity to bring heritage to the forefront," Hodge said. 

Meanwhile, the executive director of the Coquitlam Heritage Society hopes
the city will find a space for a museum. Jill Cook said the society is
working with the city on a museum proposal but it's a long way from
fruition. "We are currently on neither the A nor B list for capital projects
so there is much work to do," said Cook in an email message. 

For Anna Tremere, founder of the Riverview Hospital Historical Society,
packing the collection for storage is an immediate concern and a big job.
"We have to find sufficient space for all the items," was all she would say
about the future of the collection. 

Meanwhile, the province is looking at the heritage value of Riverview
Hospital buildings and is paying $95,000 to a consultant for a Heritage
Conservation Plan, due in the fall. Although the study won't make
recommendations for the property, it will guide future planning. 

Although the site has to be vacated by this summer, some mental health care
will continue in recently-built Connolly, Cottonwood and Cypress Lodges. 

---   30   --- 

  _____  

_______________________________________________
BCMA mailing list
BCMA at lists.vvv.com
http://lists.vvv.com/mailman/listinfo/bcma

  _____  

No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2012.0.2171 / Virus Database: 2425/5005 - Release Date: 05/17/12

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.vvv.com/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20120517/0b553260/attachment-0001.htm 