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Presentation House...if its walls could talk!

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Presentation House, the longest serving public building on the North Shore, is also one of the oldest buildings, an unprepossessing structure in Lower Lonsdale that started, “from a small core structure to a rambling complex”.

Most of North Vancouver’s non-profit cultural facilities were founded in this rambling complex. North Vancouver Community Arts Council / NorthVanArts at CityScape; the Archives of North Vancouver.; the Museum of North Vancouver (MONOVA); the Polygon Gallery and Presentation House Theatre. Prior to being a cultural centre, the building served as North Vancouver.’s City Hall and, before that, as a school. Today, Presentation House Theatre remains the principal tenant of the building owned by the City of North Vancouver at 333 Chesterfield Avenue. 

Imagine all the people who have played a part in the life of Presentation House since its start in 1902 – school children, politicians, police, photographers, artists, archivists, actors, musicians, audiences and larger-than-life personalities such as, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and, in April 1972, Muhammed Ali who sparred in the hallway with the City Clerk. There was even a royal drive-by in 1939 by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. 

Note: As you read this article, you’ll notice that where former citizens of North Vancouver are mentioned, often you’ll see their namesake in a street or park in brackets, showcasing the importance of their activities to the City and District of North Vancouver.

Early Beginnings

Since 1976, Presentation House has been a cultural centre and creative hub serving the North Shore. But in 1902, it was a brand-new school building for grades 1 to 12, with an address of 209 West 4th Street. The school opened five years before the incorporation of the City of North Vancouver in 1907 and in that same year, additions were made to the building and the name changed from North Vancouver School to Central School.

Central School, later City Hall, now Presentation House. Horse and wagon on Chesterfield Ave., 1907, Inventory number: 3178. Courtesy, NV Archives, MONOVA.

Class assembled at W. 4th St. entrance outside Central School, June 1912. Inventory number: 479. Courtesy, NV Archives, MONOVA.

From 1891 until 1907, the North Shore was one municipality called the District of North Vancouver. It extended from Horseshoe Bay to Deep Cove, except for Moodyville, that remained apart from the District. In recent years, there have been unsuccessful calls to re-unite the District and the City.

It raises the question why, in 1907, the small, 11 sq km., City of North Vancouver was established in the first place? Part of the answer relates to taxes. Business owners in the successful industrial and commercial Lower Lonsdale hub of the District were vexed that taxation of their financial gains from industrious endeavours were being used to subsidize the peripheral areas of the District. Industry was developing and flourishing in Lower Lonsdale, with a particularly successful shipbuilding industry. In 1905, two businessmen, James Cooper Keith (Keith Rd.) and Edward Mahon (Mahon Park and Avenue) “brought a petition to the district council calling for a new, compact city to be carved out of the unwieldy district”.  After two years of debate, the City of North Vancouver parted ways from the District with the first CNV City Hall established at East 1st and Lonsdale, where today the former Canada Post building still sits.

Photo of first City Hall Lonsdale & 1st, decorated for joint celebration of Dominion Day & Incorporation of City of North Vancouver., July 1907, Inventory Number, 3233. Courtesy, NV Archives, MONOVA

A Temporary City Hall - for 62 years!

As the city grew, City Hall required more space. As the population increased, Central School also required more space for their pupils and by 1913, the school at 209 West 4th closed with students moving to one of three new schools; Lonsdale Elementary, Queen Mary and Ridgeway The empty building provided a solution to the cramped quarters of the East 1st City Hall and in 1913, it was decided to relocate the City Hall temporarily to the vacated Central School, a temporary solution that would last until 1975! During those 62 years, the building housed the Council Chambers and administrative departments, such as engineering, treasury, and for a time, the justice administration, the police station, including jail rooms. The police station was initially used by the local constabulary, then the B.C. Provincial Police until 1950 when the R.C.M.P. took over policing duties. They moved, in October 1962, to a new, purpose-built detachment and justice administration and courts facility on the north west corner of East 13th Street, now the site of the condo complex, The Grande.

Group of RCMP, North Vancouver detachment, in front of City Hall at 209 West 4th Street, 1954. Inventory number: 188. Courtesy, NV Archives, MONOVA

In April 1972, world-renowned boxer, Muhammed Ali, was in town training for a match against heavyweight champion George Chuvalo. The training gym, N.W. Eagles Boxing Club, was next door to the City Hall. The story goes that Ali was being interviewed by CBC radio in City Clerk Ron Gibbs’ office and when he emerged with a red rose in hand, he was greeted by the city clerk and Mayor Tom Reid. It seems that Ali could not resist some play sparring with Gibbs.

1972 photo of Muhammed Ali's visit to the City of North Vancouver's City Hall. Ron Gibbs is standing at right and Alderman Gertie Todd and Mayor Tom Reid are at left. Inventory number: 14043. Courtesy NV Archives, MONOVA

(For additional information on Ali’s North Vancouver visit, here is a YouTube video of Ali at the N.V. Eagles Boxing Club, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5uJxTMP3sg)

Mayor Tom Reid was the mayor who would end the 62-year “temporary” stay at Chesterfield and West 4th, having championed the creation of a civic centre and a new city hall. In March 1975, the mayor and council moved into a purpose-built City Hall at 141 West 14th Street.

From Council Chambers to Cultural Centre

One month later, in April 1975, fire broke out in the vacated council chambers on the second floor of the old building. Despite significant damage, the building was saved and restored, although demolition had been considered.

April 1975, exterior view of fire damage to top floor of North Vancouver City Hall (later Presentation House). Fire occurred on April 5, 1975, just after City vacated for new premises. Inventory number:11183. Courtesy NV Archives, MONOVA

What to do with the now empty “rambling complex”? Enter Anne MacDonald (Anne MacDonald Way), the daughter of the former North Van High School principal Mickey McDougall (Mickey McDougall Centre). Like her father, who had pursued his vision of the East 23rd Memorial Gym to honour young men who had perished in WWII (many who had been his students), Anne MacDonald had a vision for developing the arts in North Vancouver. She recognized that the now vacant building was a good place to start. She helped to form the North Vancouver Community Arts Council and became the first executive director. 

MacDonald also had her eye on another original building, the 1899 St John the Evangelist Church, that had served as the first Anglican church on the North Shore built at the 200 block West 8th on land donated by Edward Mahon (Mahon Park & Avenue). As parish members increased, the original building was demoted from parish church to church hall, then to Scout Hall, and when it outlived its usefulness in that role, it was gifted to the city. MacDonald saw the potential of the heritage building as a studio annex and in 1975, it was loaded onto a truck and moved to the grounds of Presentation House, where it remains in use today as a rehearsal and performance space. Its eponymous name honours the memory of Anne MacDonald, while its cathedral ceiling, stained glass window and wood flooring are features that serve as reminders of its original use and the early settler days in North Vancouver.

1975 photo of Old St. John's Church (now Anne MacDonald Hall) on moving truck, Inventory Number 16193. Courtesy NV Archives, MONOVA

Anne Macdonald Hall interior, 1978. Inventory number: 12216. Courtesy NV Archives, MONOVA.

In 1978, after careful restoration, including the replacement of the stained-glass window, the former church opened as the Anne MacDonald Studio.

In 1971, another early heritage building, the defunct Pacific Great Eastern (P.G.E.) Lonsdale ticket office, was taken from its original Lower Lonsdale 1914 site to Mahon Park, where, in 1972, it became the first home of the newly created Museum of North Vancouver that we know today as MONOVA. The first Director was Bill Baker. The museum moved from its Mahon Park location into Presentation House in 1976. The P.G.E. ticket office continued as the museum’s annex but led a neglected existence until, in June 1997, when it was moved from Mahon Park back to the foot of Lonsdale at Carrie Cates Court, close to where it started out and where the Polygon Gallery is today. Carrie Cates was the first CNV woman mayor, 1964 to 1969, she served her two terms in the temporary City Hall at 4th & Chesterfield. And, as her name suggests, she was connected to the Cates Tug Boat family. (Cates Park)

North Shore Museum and Archives in old P.G.E. station in Mahon Park. Founding director Bill Baker at door welcoming pupils. [ca. 1975] Inventory number: 11756. Courtesy NV Arts, MONOVA.

Next, the Theatre & Photography Gallery.

Chris Tyrell Loranger, described as, “an incredible creative force in Vancouver arts and culture for almost forty years”, was the force behind the establishment of the theatre. As a young man, he walked into the new CNV City Hall with plans he had drawn up for the development of a theatre at Presentation House. There he met renowned North Vancouver citizen and senior CNV staff member, Gerry Brewer, who, with his late brother Dave, was a founding member of North Shore Rescue. According to a 2015 North Shore News article by Maria Spitale-Leisk, Loranger’s amateur theatre design drawings might have been dismissed, but Brewer supported the idea, and Loranger’s ambition, and called on CNV staff to work with Loranger and his drawings. But there was not much money in the budget for a theatre, so while Loranger was appointed to assemble a theatre, he had to find the funding and the labour. 

Remember the fire that occurred in the old council chambers in 1975? Not an accident but an arsonist whose punishment included community service in the building's restoration! He also worked on the construction of the theatre, with other men also sentenced to undertake community service as a reparation for their crimes. The theatre, despite several setbacks, was finally built and then it was time to raise the curtain. On July 8, 1977, Pierre Elliott Trudeau rode the SeaBus to North Vancouver. Accompanied by Senator Perrault and B.C. Liberal Leader, Gordon Gibson, he legged it over the exit turnstile on his way to open the newly created performance venue, Presentation House Theatre.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau, hopping the turnstiles of the SeaBus on his way to North Vancouver for the official opening of the Presentation House Theatre on July 8, 1977. The photo comes from an article entitled Sea Bus Crossing Praised by PM. Source: Vancouver Sun, 9th July, 1977, page 17.. Courtesy of newspapers.com

This occurred two months after Trudeau and Margaret Sinclair had separated and five years after their 1971 marriage in St. Stephen’s Roman Catholic Church in North Vancouver. Margaret Sinclair lived with her parents, Federal Cabinet Minister James and Kathleen Sinclair, for most of her childhood at 254 West 6th (Ottawa Gardens). Her former home is located just a couple of blocks from Presentation House.

Margaret Sinclair’s childhood home at 254 W.6th Street, mere blocks from Presentation House. Courtesy of Jennifer Clay, https://www.northshoreheritage.org/blog/2024/2/18/blackadder-houses-of-north-vancouver

It was through Loranger’s connection with a school friend of Sinclair that he was able to invite Trudeau to open the theatre. In June 2015, Loranger mounted a show at Presentation House Theatre entitled Trudeau, the Felons & Me - the story of how the Presentation House Theatre was made.

Exterior view of front of Presentation House. With signage Art Gallery, Museum, Theatre, Recital Hall. Date :[ca. 1978] Inventory number: 122123, Courtesy NV Arts, MONOVA.

Chris Tyrell Loranger was also instrumental in creating the Presentation House Photography Gallery in 1981. Its first major exhibition featured a solo exhibition of Richard Avedon’s work in 1983. In 2017, the gallery moved from Presentation House to its new home, the impressive, industrially designed, Polygon Gallery that is a star feature of the Shipyards District. The Polygon Gallery site is at Carrie Cates Court, close to where the P.G.E. ticket office, in its second incarnation as the first Museum of North Vancouver building was located. In a funny twist of fate, in the ever-juggling movement of tenants of the former City Hall, when the Art Gallery decided to move from Presentation House to a new site at the foot of Lonsdale, another former tenant of the old City Hall building, the Museum of North Vancouver (in the old PGE Ticket Station) was forced to move in order to make room for the Polygon Gallery. The P.G.E. Ticket Station was emptied of the Museum of North Vancouver display and was relocated to a city lot at 449 Alder Street, where it languishes today.

What Happened Next

The visions of Anne MacDonald and Chris Tyrell Loranger for Presentation House were now very much a reality. By 1990, Presentation House was a Full House! A theatre, a gallery, the North Vancouver Archives, the North Vancouver Museum, North Van Arts and the Anne MacDonald Studio. Anne MacDonald was inducted as a Member of the Order of British Columbia in 1990 with recognition that “her public service epitomized the important role of the community volunteer and the difference a dedicated and determined individual can make.” Three years later, at age 63, she would be dead. It seems fitting that the name of the street in her memory is Anne MacDonald Way as her vision for the creating a place for the arts in North Vancouver was done in the Anne MacDonald way.

Anne MacDonald, Order of British Columbia recipient, Photo courtesy of the Province of British Columbia

Linda Feil took over in 1996 as the Executive Director of the North Vancouver Community Arts Council with a vision to create an accessible and flexible space for the arts. In 2002, under her direction, North Van Arts found a new art facility and gallery in Lower Lonsdale, Cityscape Community Art. The North Vancouver Archives were next to move out to the North Vancouver Museum and Archives' Community History Centre in the former, renovated, Lynn Valley Elementary School on Institute Road. In 2017, the photography gallery moved to the Polygon Gallery and the following year, the Museum of North Vancouver moved to new premises at 115 West Esplanade.

Today 

Presentation House Theatre remains in the 1902 history-filled building with a full 2025/2026 production season line-up. Back on October 29, 2024, they presented Haunted Histories: An Evening with the Vancouver Paranormal Society, which was described as “a special presentation, the team will share their findings and experiences from investigating Presentation House Theatre, a historical building that’s over a hundred years old and rumoured to be home to several spirits.”

With so many tenants and uses over its 123 years of existence, it is clear that if the walls of today’s Presentation House Theatre could speak, they’d have stories to tell!

If you have a story to tell about Presentation House, or with to leave a comment about this article, please scroll down to the comments box. We’d love to hear from you!

FUN FACTS

  • Presentation House Gallery: First significant photography exhibition that put it on the map was held 7th January – 10th March 1983. Renowned American photographer, Richard Avedon, known for minimalism and striking black-and-white photographs. https://thepolygon.ca/exhibition/richard-avedon-a-survey/

  • Polygon Gallery: Michael Audain and the Audain Foundation have significantly contributed to the Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver.

  • PH Theatre, North Shore Live, 1983, with Nicola Cavendish, was an early Presentation House Theatre production. It had great success and went on to tour. This writer attended the play back then.

  • Anne MacDonald Hall, formerly St. John the Evangelist Church, was built in 1899 using lumber from the Moodyville sawmill.

SOURCES and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Except where indicated, text and images Copyright @ North Shore Heritage and Anne-Marie Lawrence. All rights reserved. Republication in whole or in part is prohibited without the written consent of the copyright holder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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