Lions Gate

By Donald Luxton and Lilia D'Acres

Arching over the entrance to Vancouver's harbour is a beautiful web of intricately suspended steel. It is at once a gateway, landmark, symbol and emblem of a Western city, poised at the edge of a continent gazing westward over the wide Pacific Ocean, to the East. Day and night, its taut steel strings sing the original hymn to progress, hope and riches first composed in the hearts and minds of its builders. Celebrated in Douglas Coupland's paean as a "bridge to heaven," the Lions Gate Bridge has become an icon of the city, not only to heritage conservationists, but to citizens of and visitors to Vancouver from around the globe. After decades of debate over a suitable replacement for this "outdated" structure, the bridge itself has triumphed--on the occasion of its 60th anniversary, the government of British Columbia committed itself to renewing this grand and daring gesture in steel, rather than replacing it. Like all great historic landmarks, the Lions Gate Bridge remains a source of powerful, sometimes illuminating, sometimes mysterious stories of the people and times which gave birth to them. In addition to celebrating this bridge and its grand design, Lions Gate sets out to reveal these stories for the first time: the colonial ambitions of the British Empire stretched to its westernmost margin; the unresolved violation of nationhood the building of the bridge on native land entailed; the backroom political power the railroad barons continued to hold in the Canadian government long after their railroad was completed; the origins of the newly private, global empire building of the 'new' British peerage; and the strange phenomenon and circumstance of such a huge commercial enterprise being mounted in the midst of the "dirty thirties." Most mysterious of all is the figure of the man who both conceived and built this

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0889224161
• ISBN13: 9780889224162
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Talonbooks
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.6" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

The Gate to the Lions (peaks of the North Shore Mountains)

Lions Gate Bridge, the centerpiece of Vancouver, British Columbia, is loved by locals and tourists for its serene framing of the entrance to Vancouver's harbor, but hated by its users who deal with its narrow lanes and constant attempts to extend its lifetime (which officially was to end in 1988!).Lilia D'Acres and Donald Luxton have done a superb job in bringing together in one place all of the history, politics and construction details of this giant suspension bridge project of the Depression era, built entirely with private funds.This 176 page book, with more than 190 wonderful photographs and illustrations, will be of interest to Vancouverites, Vancouver tourists, those who enjoy details of great construction projects, and anyone interested in the architecture and politics of the late 1930's.