Soccer season VIU Mariners teams
in action as PacWest competition gets underway. PAGE 23
www.nanaimobulletin.com
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
VOL. 27, NO. 37
Ship’s anchor signifies maritime history
I
Timelesstales
BELIEVED TO be from coal carrier SS Northland.
NEWS BULLETIN’S local history feature runs the third Tuesday of each month. For previous stories in the ongoing series, please visit www. nanaimobulletin.com.
BY KARL YU THE NEWS BULLETIN
T
he anchor located near the Nanaimo Bastion is a giant reminder of the Harbour City’s history. Legend has it the SS Northland, a threemasted sailing ship with a steam engine, was headed to load up on coal, but came on strong winds and dropped anchor to reduce speed. The anchor got caught on a reef and part of the winch may have broken. The ship is said to have run into the dock. The anchor was salvaged 20 years ago from Boat Harbour, which was the shipping port for South Wellington and Mordern Collieries, said David Hill-Turner, former Nanaimo Museum curator. It has been displayed near Nanaimo’s waterfront since June 1985. Hill-Turner said the anchor is of forged iron and probably dates from sometime in the 19th century. It’s a fairly standard pattern of anchor used on sailing ships well into the 20th century. “They were useful for other purposes and I suspect at Boat Harbour, it was used as a warping anchor so ships could
KARL YU/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Chris Sholberg, City of Nanaimo culture and heritage planner, said the anchor near the Bastion represents the types of ships coming to and from Nanaimo’s waters more than 100 years ago.
move themselves to and from the dock without the aid of a tug. There would be chain from it to a buoy on the surface. Often, there was more than one,” said Hill-Turner in an e-mail. However the anchor was placed prior to the Nanaimo Archives
and information wasn’t always verified, according to Christine Meutzner, Nanaimo Archives’ community archivist. While it is plausible the ship came into Nanaimo’s waters, the only thing for certain, via documents, is the SS Northlands operated out of Washington
state, she said. “[The SS Northland] likely did, because at that time there were hundreds of different ships that came in, but there’s no actual record of it and I don’t believe there’s any identification on the anchor. So someone, who was either there at the time or had some direct connection to retrieving that anchor, would’ve had to provide this information because it’s so very specific. “It makes some assumptions you would only know if you were somehow involved in that story,” said Meutzner. Regardless of origin, the anchor serves as a monument representing Nanaimo’s past, said Chris Sholberg, City of Nanaimo culture and heritage planner. “The anchor’s representative of the type of ships that would’ve plied the waters of Nanaimo’s harbour over 100 years ago, so it’s a good example of that period in our history as a harbour and that history of shipping as a means of transportation,” Sholberg said. reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
Public asked for input to transform highway BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
A new street scape can bring the whole downtown together and change the personality of one of Nanaimo’s major roadways, according to members of Terminal Nicol Re-Imagined. The Terminal Nicol Re-Imagined project, led by a newly struck committee, is about to hold its first public event Sunday (Sept. 20). From boulevards in the centre of Terminal Avenue and Nicol Street to trees, fewer car lanes and street lights, people will be asked what features they want to transform the look of the highway that stretches from the Days Inn hotel to Comox Road. It’s all part of an effort by the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Association to support revitalization of an area challenged by potential ground contamination, costs of remediation and There’s an a street scape that doesn’t encourage opportunity to drivers to stop. The City of really change Nanaimo has prothe personality vided $50,000 toward the first phase of the of the street. street scape project, which runs until October and kicks off public input. Future phases involve exploring possibilities, stakeholder meetings, options and a new concept for the corridor. Doug Kalcsics, a member of the street scape project committee, said the highway doesn’t serve the same purpose as it did prior to the Nanaimo Parkway and sees a chance to give the streets more urban character and a “certain quality” that doesn’t otherwise exist. “Now there’s an opportunity to really change the personality of the street and perhaps reknit it back into the communities on either side of it,” he said, adding he’s looking forward to a solid plan and strategy that has broad acceptance and will stand the test of time.
“
See ‘CORRIDOR’ /4
JEWELLERY SERVICE
GOLD RECYCLING
P. 250.585.1648 www.marshandson.com 3392 Norwell Drive, Nanaimo | Tues - Sat 10am - 5pm
DIAMOND RECYCLING