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Hallmark Society
#18 Centennial Square
Victoria, BC V8W 1P7
Phone/fax: (250) 382-4755
office@hallmarksociety.ca
Fairfield/Gonzales project
The photographic documentation of Gonzales, Fairfield, and Rockland was completed during the summer of 2001. Esther Parker and Christina Smylitopoulos took over 6,000 photographs of each structure, streetscape, and landscape feature. The next stage was to discover as far as possible the history of each structure. In some cases, this was a relatively easy process as Hallmark Society files contain significant information. In others, particularly the buildings built since 1950, the files contain nothing at all.
We were able to secure the services of Maryanne McGrath through the Youth Community Action administered by the British Columbia Museums Association. Under this innovative program, students worked for non-profit organizations and accumulate tuition credits at the rate of $8.00 per hour for a maximum of 150 hours. Maryanne spent most of her time at the City of Victoria Archives where Carey Pallister was very helpful. Maryanne found the original owner and the current owner of each property and was, in some cases, able to record information about the original owner by using the old directories and City records. At the end of the
summer - and the 150 hours - we had a large stack of completed
inventory forms. A side benefit of this summer employment was that
Maryanne is considering making archival work her career.
In the fall, we hired two students, Gillian Saunders and Kevin Smith,
through the University of Victoria Arts and Writing Co-op program. They worked for thirteen weeks on research. Samantha Van Wollen was our second student through the Youth Community Action program. She was also engaged in research. Through a partnership with the Victoria Heritage Foundation, we gained access to the information being catalogued from building plans at City Hall. This filled in numerous blanks and made our job easier. This whole project has been a model of cooperation with numerous partners and sources of funds. Once it is completed, we hope to digitize the photos for display on an expanded web site.
The first of a series of public meetings was held through the Fairfield
Community Association in October, 2001. At this event, Kevin and
Gillian described the work they were doing and asked for public
feedback. A subsequent article in the Fairfield Community Newspaper asked specifically for information on buildings in the area. We then contacted citizens who offered their information.
The final stage of the initial project was the designing of a portable display. An added benefit of the display is that it will also be available
electronically so, theoretically at least, our project can be viewed
from anywhere in the world. After a brief introduction, the panels
highlight the diversity of architectural styles in Gonzales and
Fairfield. Each style is defined and significant features are
illustrated via a photograph of a building. The second half of the
display focuses on examples of the diverse styles and their variations
and presents information on each of the structures. The exhibit was
shown at Hallmark Society Awards Night (May 7, 2002) and will be
available to community centres and municipal halls. The exhibit is
viewable online.
The official unveiling of the display was held on Monday, February 18, 2002 at a special Heritage Week meeting of the Hallmark Society.
During the summer of 2003, Erin Coulson and Eliane McDonald completed research on the remaining files. They also incorporated data from the Victoria Heritage Foundation's inventory of building plans in Victoria City Hall.
We continued to work on this project over the ensuing summers and have now digitized all the photos and hope to have the entire project online in the near future when funds become available.