The Town of Gibsons’ 2006 Heritage Register states that Gospel Rock is a site of primary significance for the community
(By Sharon Danroth)
I am Sharon Danroth and I am born in Roberts Creek. I have lived in Calgary and Victoria but returned to the Coast in 1972.
When I moved to Pratt Road in 1987, I became involved in the campaigns to try and save the Gospel Rock Lands for a park.
Since time immemorial, Gospel Rock has been an important “place”: a gathering place, a meeting place, a lookout, a destination, a place for ceremony, a place to pray, to wildcraft, a place to paint, to photograph, a place to celebrate.
We were told by a Squamish storyteller that after the great flood, the first person was born on Gospel Rock.
It remained a place to go to until the implementation of the latest chain link fence. Now all humans except the workers and, most importantly, all wildlife. . . locked out.
When I looked at all the documents we saved of the 40-plus year struggle to save Gospel Rock for a park what coalesced was the great love felt by so many people for not just the greenbelt area now to be saved, but for the entire Block 7.
People like Catherine McManus, who spent thousands of hours on all kinds of activities, from organizing fundraisers to arguing in public hearing after public hearing, to save the natural systems and protect the wildlife on Gospel Rock.
So many other community members have worked at raising funds and awareness. We made birdhouses to sell, had a fashion show, decorated floats for the Sea Cavalcade parade, hosted dinners, held a fair, organized a gala to launch Loretta’s movie about Gospel Rock, and so much more.
The Gibsons museum has a printout on Gospel Rock about the history and the people using the place, including the Easter church services on the promontory.
Gospel Rock plays a role in the works of a number of well-known writers. A quote from Lester Petersons book: “There are many numbers who take the walk again and again, and never weary of the rugged beauty of the scene.”
Rosamund Greer says “Our evening strolls took us up to Gospel Rock , a short distance from the village. There we would sit atop the rock and watch the sunset in fiery splendour.”
The appearance of Gospel Rock in the literature of well-known Canadian author Robert Watson is attributed to Watson’s summer vacations to the site.
Writer and educator Roby Kidd, who founded the phenomenon of Continuing Education, also spent summers in Gibsons Landing, and later in life credited Gospel Rock with being his spiritual home when life became challenging.
All these references are clear evidence that Gospel Rock has been used by the community as a place for recreation and gathering for close to a century.
The Town of Gibsons’ 2006 Heritage Register states that Gospel Rock is a site of primary significance. It achieved this designation for its historical association, cultural association, ecological importance, and its importance to the community.
In 2011, then-mayor Barry Janyk wrote: “Given the exceptional status of these lands, surely Council has a responsibility to ensure that they be developed respectfully by those who truly comprehend their history, their local significance and the reverence in which the local community has held them for thousands of years.”
One thing we can all agree upon is that this is exactly what has not happened. The “Back to Nature” slogan of the present development is meaningless: the developer has annihilated all nature up there.
How much of the development permit area has been clearcut and why have not all environmentally sensitive areas been included in the area to be protected by a covenant with the Land Conservancy?
In a court case against Hayden Killam, one of the former owners of Gospel Rock who clearcut part of Block 7 in the 1980’s, the Town showed to the judge’s satisfaction that there was enough evidence of geotechnical hazards caused by the logging to prohibit any further tree removal.
Which leads me to ask why Dave Newman, the Town’s director of infrastructure services, recently said that developer Ji Yan and the contractor “didn’t apply for a tree cutting permit, but we had one ready for them.”
This was an address to the Town Council, Gibsons April 6, 2021
A great loss. Once again, “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot” (Joni Mitchell).
Parking lot or condo development, it’s all the same … nature and a valued spiritual place rolled over by ‘progress’. Such a loss.
After a seven-month hiatus for reasons of frustration and anger, and after 33 years of public meetings and holding councils and developers at bay, I took a walk to the once beautiful but now totally decimated so-called “getting back to what’s real”. The once-revered Block 7 is reminiscent of a war zone.
I am saddened by the disrespect of developers to the land on Gospel Rock, I wish I could turn back time and stop this horrible display of ignorance!
Is it too late to protest outside the Town of Gibsons offices – take back Gospel Rock? Have their decisions summoned up for questioning and possible reversal? Could the project be re-examined to align with what is environmentally sound and returned to support wildlife, as well as gaining the support of the community? Are there enough people out there willing to try? Just wondering. 40 years of protests – what’s another 10?
Sharon – thank you for your significant account of the history and current meaning of Gospel Rock. It has been, and is, a place fraught with many kinds of spiritual and cultural significance. I remember teaching my high school students the Squamish account of the flood with great respect for the reflection of earth-care and the connection between people and place expressed in that legend, and others like it. The wasting away of the Gospel Rock site, the Eaglecrest site, and the George site are a disgrace and a blight on our beautiful community. This situation is nothing short of an ecological, social, cultural and spiritual tragedy. I hesitate to place blame, but this situation should never have been allowed to develop.