445 Twentieth Street (below 1900 block of River Drive, on the waterfront)
Heritage Inventory:  No.
Heritage Designation:  No.
Why Endangered:  Inertia.  Demolition blocked.

It’s often heard in heritage circles – wouldn’t it be great if there was more publicly owned land along the river?  Wouldn’t it be great if there was land owned by the government with some funky buildings, like Granville Island?  Wouldn’t it be great to have publicly owned wharves on the river?  Well, guess what – there is such a place in New Westminster, just across the water from picturesque Poplar Island, and just as with the New Westminster Gas Company Building, the site provides one of the few remaining opportunities to preserve the city’s industrial and working class heritage. 

Just below River Drive and train tracks, right on the shores of the Fraser River a stone’s throw from Poplar Island, the Department of Fisheries opened a Fishery Station in 1939.  Six structures, most built for the post-war fishery, include a carpenter shop, a caretaker’s residence, a boat storage building (the oldest of the buildings built in 1923), a hose shed, a garage, a warehouse, and various wharves.  Total site area, publicly owned land on the shores of the Fraser River, is 40,946 square feet, with 11,682 square feet of floor space. 

Isn’t this one a no-brainer - a perfect site to celebrate New Westminster’s fishy heritage?  Couldn’t the federal government and the city work together with the community…? 

Used mainly for vessel maintenance and as a marine base, the property was vacated when Fisheries consolidated repair services in Sydney in 1986.The property has been in government limbo for almost two decades.  When the federal government moved to demolish the buildings and clear contaminated soil (mainly motor oil) in 1994, local residents protested.  Debate ensued about whether the properties could be counted as heritage – some argued that there was no special architectural or contextual heritage merit.  Local residents, however, argued that the buildings had neighborhood and community merit, and historical merit as one of the few remaining historical sites in the city linked to the fishing industry, evoking the Britannia Heritage Shipyard in Steveston.  Inquiries to Fisheries on the current status of the lands have yet to receive a response.