riverview hospital tours

Tree tours on former Riverview Hospital grounds may come to an end after 3 decades

Nonprofit says it cannot pay the $825 fee per tour that b.c. housing will start to charge them in 2024.

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A Coquitlam nonprofit may halt free tree tours it has offered for 30 years on the grounds of the former Riverview Hospital, as the province will require them to pay a $825 fee per tour starting next year. 

B.C. Housing, which manages the property with the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem First Nation), previously allowed the society to run tours for free. 

The Riverview Horticultural Centre Society's (RHCS) tours are volunteer-run, and organizers say the new cost would be prohibitive to its operations. 

"We provide a public service," said board member Allison Luke. "We're providing an educational service for people and a recreational outlet."

Luke said the society's volunteers also help tend to parts of the grounds, which were  renamed to səmiq̓ʷəʔelə in 2021. 

• In Depth Riverview Hospital: a brief history

She says səmiq̓ʷəʔelə has a unique collection of 1,800 trees of 160 different species, many of which were planted in the early 1900s and are considered "fine specimens" by arborists. 

"There's nothing like it in the Lower Mainland," Luke said. 

The two-hour-long tree walks, which have typically run once a month from April through October, attract between 50 and 100 people, she says. 

"There's not an Oscars or Grammy or an Olympics of trees, but if there were, the trees would be here," said Luke. 

In a statement to CBC, B.C. Housing said it will require the RHCS to pay the special events fee "in the interest of transparency, fairness and equity to other organizations and groups interested in hosting activities at səmiq̓ʷəʔelə."

It says other groups using the site for special events like weddings, photo shoots, reunions, and filming are required to pay the same fee — a fee it says covers the cost of processing an event application and providing a liaison officer to oversee the tour. 

B.C. Housing introduced the liaison officer requirement when it took ownership of the land in 2015. It says the role is intended to protect the privacy of those who live and work on səmiq̓ʷəʔelə and to ensure strict environmental and cultural protocols are adhered to. 

• Preserving the 'Place of the Great Blue Heron': cultural training for workers at Riverview grounds

Marilyne Andersen, president of the RHCS, says its guides take care to be considerate of those living on the grounds while conducting tours. 

"We do not go near the housing. We respect that," Andersen said. 

History of the tours

The tree tours were started in 1993 by a group of Coquitlam residents, including a nurse at Riverview Hospital, according to Andersen. 

As the hospital was winding down its operations in the 90s, Andersen said some residents were concerned the land would be developed and the trees cleared. 

"They felt that through educating the public and through inviting the public onto the grounds and getting them to walk there and see the magnificent trees, that they would want to save them," Andersen said. 

To this day, the society continues to educate the public and advocate for the preservation of the trees through its public tours. 

But Andersen says if they can't secure funding elsewhere, the nature walks will have to stop. 

"I get joy out of coming here. And to not be able to do that and share with others, it's heartbreaking, and it's sad."

She says the trees and gardens on the grounds also serve an important mental health purpose, providing a sanctuary and calming space for many — particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"The trees are life-giving."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michelle Gomez is a writer and reporter at CBC Vancouver. You can contact her at [email protected].

With files from Cali McTavish

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• Nov 15, 2020

The Ghost Tree at Vancouver's Abandoned Insane Asylum, Riverview Hospital

Riverview Hospital is a sprawling institutional complex in Coquitlam, BC. It's about a thirty minute drive from our house in South Burnaby, making it part of Greater Vancouver. I have visited many times over the years and have only seen a small part of it. It's a very rich and complex site, both geographically and historically. The major structures are four large housing units, or "pavilions." The oldest of these is the West Lawn Pavilion, pictured above, opened in 1913 and officially closed in 1983.

One day I will write an extensive piece about Riverview and my experiences there. I entered and photographed West Lawn on my own a couple of times around 2009. Some of those photos are online, and some of the best ones have been donated to the Creative Commons via Flickr . See this Atlas Obscura page for an example of three of those images being put to good use. Those online images are the only ones I have access to at the moment for a bunch of exhausting reasons, and I really want to rectify that before writing about this place in a bigger way.

In the meantime, there is this little, fun thing.

A couple of weeks ago, Lisa, Rowan and I drove out to Riverview on a sunny afternoon for a walk. It's a great place for walking, being very large and meandering, with many interesting buildings, lots of green space, and a variety of well-established trees. The grounds are, in fact, an arboretum featuring trees from all over the province. As always, we had a look at the West Lawn pavilion, although we only passed by the back of the building because a large film unit circus was parked in front of it. We saw the unit getting ready to film at another location, and Lisa thought she saw a sign that said, "Riverdale"

After leaving West Lawn and trudging up a hill heading behind the other pavilions, I turned around and took three photos of the old building. The image above is a processed, filtered, and edited version of one of those photos. Here's the original, raw out of my relatively crappy Motorola camera phone:

While I was working on the photo, I noticed something odd. In front of the building, there stood what looked like a ghostly tree, insubstantial and translucent. Zooming in:

I checked the other two photos taken from the same position - same ghost tree. Now, I realize that the area where the ghost tree is is in shade, and while I have a pretty open mind when it comes to the supernatural, I figured there was a logical explanation for it. That didn't stop me from posting these pics on Instagram for a laugh, and discovering that the hashtag #ghosttree had 10.5 K public posts. That's a whole lot of ghost trees out there. I didn't even know that was a thing.

Of course, I plan to return and investigate in person. In the meantime, though, I fired up Google Earth and was pleasantly surprised to discover that Riverview is 3D rendered (most of Greater Vancouver is), allowing me to have a good look at the West Lawn pavilion from a variety of angles and zoom levels. And, wouldn't you know, there is an actual, real tree in that spot. Click on the image to trigger Google Earth and this view:

I posted a follow up about it on Instagram, and I as did so I realized that while standing in the real, physical world I had captured a digital representation of that world, and then examined that image to discover a possible element of the supernatural world, and then investigated using the virtual world of Google Earth. That's the intersection of four worlds which, in my opinion, is pretty good. It occurs to me now that writing about it constitutes a narrative world. So five worlds. :-)

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Hey Christopher. Yes, X-Files, and so many other productions as well. The main building that sees filming inside is the Crease Unit, which is the big building that you can see from the highway. It's a more modern structure, and has stood in for hospitals, prisons, police stations, and just about any type of institutional setting you can think of. I've never been inside it, although it would be very interesting to do so, as I'm sure fragments of sets are everywhere and it would be a kind of surreal melange of locations. Nobody is allowed to film inside the West Lawn Pavilion anymore as it is too dangerous, although I think some filming did go on there for a…

My first introduction to this location was X-Files, am I right? Then my son & daughter-in-law lived in Coquitlam and we drove past it every time we visited. It is a towering, grand structure when view from the road. Curiously, we often arrived in the afternoon and passing it was an archetetual wonder, but going home after dinner and view the same building in the dark frequently turned our conversation to ghost stories. Your photos and the satellite shots reveal to me for the first time the expanse of the property.

As always, love to visit, comment & enjoy your many adventures. CAJ

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Spectacular trees on view as public tours resume at səmiq̓ʷəʔelə in Coquitlam

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Nature lovers can get get up close and personal with a stately collection of mature trees on the 244-acres of səmiq̓ʷəʔelə also known as the former Riverview Hospital lands in Coquitlam.

More than 1,800 tree specimens, including exotic and native species, have been planted throughout the site and the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society is once again re-establishing the popular tree tours after a nearly two-year hiatus.

Beginning Sunday (Aug. 15), the tree tours will take place on site, led by arborist James Bobick, who will talk about the trees, and how and why they were planted during successive hospital administrations dating back to 1913.

Follow up tours will be held Sept. 12 and Oct. 17.

Bringing the public back to the beautiful location, now called səmiq̓ʷəʔelə or Place of the Great Blue Heron, is a thrill for long-time Riverview Horticultural Society treasure Linda Asgeirsson.

“We’re very excited because it appears a lot of changes are coming to the Riverview site and we want to remind people about the trees and the arboretum that’s there. We’re glad to be able to get back and doing that.”

COVID-19 restrictions were among the reasons the tours haven’t been held since October 2019, Asgeirsson said, expressing confidence that people will want to have a closer look at the trees, especially with planning underway for the property.

Here are the details:

• The tours are free, take place rain or shine and begin at 1 p.m., lasting no longer than two hours. Children are welcome, dogs must be on a leash, and participants should wear comfy shoes or boots.
• The meeting location is in the in the parking lot of the Henry Esson Young Building (HEY Building) which is located approximately in the centre of the səmiq̓ʷəʔelə/Riverview site.
• Hand sanitizer and a mask, if needed, will be provided, and participants will be required to register their contact details upon arrival. Washrooms will be open. 

For those unfamiliar, here are some directions.

•  Enter səmiq̓ʷəʔelə/Riverview at either the Colony Farm Road traffic light or Holly Drive off the Lougheed Hwy in between the two new buildings.
•  Follow Holly Drive through the grounds until reaching Oak Crescent, then turn uphill and then turn right on Kalmia Drive which is where the HEY building and start of the tour is located.
•  Ample parking will be available and directional signs will be in place to assist with finding the tour start location. Here is a map  to the meeting site.

LAND PLANNING UNDERWAY FOR FORMER RIVERVIEW HOSPITAL

In March, BC Housing announced it had partnered with the Kwikwetlem First Nation  (KFN) to guide growth on the century-old site; the provincial government also renamed Riverview Hospital to səmiqʷəʔelə — or Place of the Great Blue Heron — in honour of KFN's ancestral ties. The Nation, which has land claims on the property, will also receive an undetermined amount of parcels.

Meanwhile, the Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction is scheduled to be operational in October, providing 105 beds for people with complex and severe mental illness and addictions; it will replace the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction.

– with files from Janis Cleugh, Tri-City News

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Sanctuary and torment: The complex history of Riverview Hospital

Content warning: Some of the details in this story are disturbing.

Set on the slopes overlooking the Coquitlam River, the psychiatric institution still widely known as Riverview was established to treat British Columbians with the most severe mental illnesses in a relaxing setting.

In the end, it would prove to be both a sanctuary and a place of torment for its patients.

The complex history of the site spans more than 100 years, and is casting a long shadow over the future planning for the site, which was quietly halted earlier this year.

What was originally called The Hospital for the Mind on Mount Coquitlam was named Essondale when it fully opened in 1913, and initially housed only men. Women were later included and all patients were compelled to undertake manual labour described as “occupational therapy,” which purportedly helped manage their symptoms but also supported the facility’s operations and financial position, according to a history compiled by the City of Coquitlam . 

The grounds were intended as a therapeutic sanctuary and the calm, pastoral setting provided respite and relief for some patients, with the population steadily growing over the years. Many lived their entire life there.

Some patients were subjected to treatments and therapies unconscionable by today’s medical standards: shock therapy, insulin-induced comars, and “hydrotherapy” that included hours exposed to or blasted with hot or cold water. Hundreds of patients were sterilized against their will and were awarded compensation decades later.

“Many people who were detained at Riverview in the past identify as survivors – they were there against their will and they were not allowed to leave,” said Laura Johnston, legal director of Health Justice. “Riverview used mechanical and chemical restraints and many other practices that were considered controversial and criticized even at the time they were being used.”

A post-war surge driven by traumatized soldiers saw a peak population of approximately 4,700 resident patients by the 1950s.

A NEW NAME AND OUTLOOK

Advances in understanding of mental illness and breakthroughs in pharmacology saw a massive shift in the facility’s approach: psychotherapy and powerful anti-psychotic drugs saw the first wave of patients sent to live their lives as they wished.

“We have discharged more patients to the community than ever before; public understanding and acceptance of mental illness is improving,” wrote Medical Director F.E. McNair in March of 1956 . 

By 1965, the recreational facilities were set up for patients, they were allowed to visit friends and family, and the facility was renamed again: it was now Riverview Hospital.

“(Up to then) they were treated horrid, horrible, the people who were mentally ill,” said veteran journalist and historian, Mike McCardell. “But by the 1970s when I got to know it really well, there was kindness, love, understanding at Riverview. There were baseball teams – I played on one!” https://www.facebook.com/MikeMcCardellCTV/

The first building closed permanently on the site in the 1970s as the population continued to decline and more people went for housing and treatment, but ultimately left. This challenges the common perception the hospital was rapidly emptied in the 1990s alone, but also foreshadowed future issues.

“There’s been several waves of transferring people out of Riverview,” said Marina Morrow, a York University professor who studied B.C.’s mental health landscape in her years teaching at Simon Fraser University. “In the ‘70s when people left Riverview, we didn’t have community-based mental services yet. There wasn’t infrastructure like that in Canada.”

THE FULL CLOSURE OF RIVERVIEW

By the 1980s, the hospital was actively being downsized for two reasons: a belief patients belonged in community rather than warehoused and out of sight, and the government deciding it was financially better as well.

“Government policy at the time was to have psychiatric services developed in the acute care hospitals like Vancouver General and St. Paul’s (hospitals),” said Dr. John Higenbottam, a clinical professor of psychiatry at UBC who was vice president of clinical programs at Riverview Hospital from 1980 to 1992.

He described orders from the then-NDP government in Victoria where “they actually gave the hospital quotas on the numbers of patients to discharge to the community, so it didn’t matter what they’re needs were – basically, get ’em out.”

Both Higenbottam and Morrow said there were insufficient supports at the time, backed up by a 1994 Ombudsman’s office report noting “transition issues around discharge planning.”

Increasingly, many of those people wound up on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where accommodation was cheap and patients were often preyed upon by drug dealers.

“I saw it hundreds and hundreds of times,” said McCardell. “The government said ‘We have all these places set up for them.’ They lied. They didn’t have all these places set up for them.”

Despite that, plans continued to wind down the hospital and discharge patients through the 1990s, and the BC Liberals carried on closure plans when they came into power. Morrow tracked bed-to-bed transfers of the final wave of patients to other facilities leading to Riverview’s full closure in 2012 . 

While the province has been providing some supportive housing options for those who no longer need in-patient care, it hasn’t been enough and some patients continue to find themselves in a loop of involuntary treatment to discharge and back again.

The medical consensus is supportive housing, rather than long-term or permanent institutionalization.

“That shouldn’t be someone’s home,” emphasized Higenbottam.

The history of the Riverview lands began much earlier than the well-known psychiatric hospital. The Kwikwetlem First Nation’s stories and legacy at the site span thousands of years and will be the focus of Thursday’s instalment of our Riverview: In Focus series. 

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