A store and outreach center of our very own
In 1998, Wilderness Committee staff suspected they might soon be on the move. The lease on our storefront location at 20 Water Street where we had been in business for 10 years was up for renewal and the new lease rate was way too high. We decided to pursue the purchase of a strata title store a block away, at 227 Abbott Street. Owning our own store meant no more arbitrary increases in rent! We then found office space—with more room, skylights, windows, a great atmosphere and a lower rent--two blocks away, at 341 Water Street, close to the Skytrain/Seabus Terminal in upper Gastown. We moved in September of 1998.
Keen to get help in the purchase and interior completion of our "bare bones" store, we mailed out an urgent appeal in our first ever "Capital Fundraising" drive. Our members and supporters were tremendously generous! Donations and offers to provide construction materials and free labor poured in. Here are some photos of our beautiful new Wilderness Committee Store and Outreach Center located in Vancouver's historic Gastown at 227 Abbott Street. Come and see us when you are in Vancouver. We're very happy in our new offices, and very proud of our store! There's lots to buy and loads of free information to pick up!
View from the store entrance, with card rack all-season cards on the left and sales counter on the right right. Wilderness Committee holiday and all season cards on the left and sales counter on the right.
Beside our books about wilderness, our store features a new section with rare and out-of-print wilderness coffee table books and hiking guides. Note, on the lower left wall, the slab from Canada's oldest known tree. This 1,835 year-old yellow cedar grew in the Sunshine Coast's Caren Range until loggers cut it down in the early 1990s. ft Is a historic attraction that is growing in notoriety as a Gastown tourist destination. We are hoping it will become more famous than Gastown's Steam Clock!
The poster display rack is featured prominently on left. We believe posters really help save wilderness!
A special bylaw variance was granted so that we could hang our "oversized" 10 year old "heritage" sign.
WCWC staff in front of store just after we purchased it in August 1998 and the "SOLD" sign went up!
View of the back of the store with the river of special stones In the floor surrounded by slate. The free information resource center is on the left.
Architect Marianne Enhorning (behind), who designed the store's interior, with Director and Volunteer Alice Eaton (in front) helping lay out special stones sent in by members from front) helping lay out special wilderness areas for the "river" in the floor.
