West Vancouver purchases final property needed to complete public waterfront plan

The District of West Vancouver has purchased a $7.3-million waterfront property and with it, the final piece to a 50-year project to create a continuous public green space just west of the Lions Gate Bridge.

The purchase is one of many that the city has made since the mid-1950s, when it first began to acquire properties near the beach, eventually creating Ambleside Park. Over the years, the city's waterfront park space has expanded.

"It's the last piece of a puzzle here," said Terry Frewer, the departing owner of 1444 Argyle Ave. 

The 1960s home and property, adjacent to the city's commercial district, is the last of 32 properties along the Argyle waterfront that the city has acquired since 1975. According to the city, the property will become part of Brissenden Waterfront Park, and allow for a continuous seawall from Ambleside Park to John Lawson Park. 

Frewer and his wife Joanne purchased the home in 1978 as newlyweds and raised their children in what was once a quiet, family neighbourhood.

The decision to sell was several years in the making, Frewer said. It all started when the mayor called them up and asked to talk.

Initially they didn't want to leave. But, Frewer said, the mayor offered to take them for a drive around the city to show them other potential properties.

"[He] took us to a whole bunch of neighbourhoods we'd never even knew existed, just to show us possibilities, that this wouldn't be the end of the world to leave here," Frewer said.

While the couple didn't take the city up on its purchase offer right away, they stayed in touch. And, over a period of a couple years, the mayor helped the Frewers wrap their heads around the opportunity, and finally make the sale.

"They really, really wanted to see it happen," Frewer said of the mayor and city staff. 

The mayor's kindness, Frewer said, and the fact that the city didn't attempt to expropriate the land, is not lost on him. 

"They could have just taken legal measures against us and possibly got the house that way … [but] he was patient enough to work through it with us."

West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager said he wanted to complete the land assembly with integrity.

"I met the Frewers and realized they're extraordinarily nice people and that it would be important to finish this project by ensuring that they're fairly treated. And I think that's happened. I think they're happy," he said.

Sager said he hopes the city can relocate the home, and that the vision for the new space is to make it a simple, open park area.

Frewer said he and his wife are looking forward to having more neighbours when they move.

"We'll be happy to have a neighborhood again 'cause this one has evaporated. It's now a park," he said.