An exciting part of any 100th birthday is the legacy projects that leave something behind for the community to enjoy for many years after.
In this 100th anniversary year in Pitt Meadows, one such project is “Through a Century of Progress: Pitt Meadows 1914 to 2014,” an exhibit produced by the Pitt Meadows Museum and funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage.
The exhibit has been well received at the host of events it has appeared at since February.
On Pitt Meadows Day, it will be back at the museum for visitors to view and learn more about the events that have shaped this community.
Another centennial legacy item is a new stage, for use by groups in the community. Funded in part by Heritage Canada, Mountainfest/parks and leisure services, and a local corporate sponsor, the stage has been at a few centennial events to date and will also be at Harris Road Park for the Pitt Meadows Day ceremonies and events June 7.
But this isn’t the first stage the community has acquired as a centennial project.
In 1958, the centennial of the birth of British Columbia, the community rallied and built a Centennial Stage for use by community groups and, in particular, to accommodate the Pitt Meadows Day Royal Party.
Unlike this centennial’s relatively light collapsible stage, the 1958 structure was a large scale project built of wood and canopied to keep the elements out.
As large as it was, the structure was at least semi-portable, as images at the museum show it in different locations at Pitt Meadows Days over the years.
The images also show a beautifully decorated structure emblazoned with “Centennial 1858–1958 Pitt Meadows.”
For many years after the centennial it was a well-loved and cared for legacy.
However, as with all things wooden in the wet of the Lower Mainland, the stage began to suffer as the decades went by and around 2003 the decision was made to dismantle and dispose of it.
Fast forward a decade and another centennial brings with it our a stage.