Park caretakers, and the houses they live in, represent quainter times in Vancouver.
When caretaker houses were built in city parks between the 1920s and 1960s, the idea was that a caretaker would have an almost parental role, chasing away badly behaving teenagers, acting as the neighbourhood lost and found, and keeping an eye on the playground. Now that the city has gone from a sleepy, overgrown town to a place that is denser and more complicated, the caretaker’s role has become obsolete.
“It is a model that really worked in the earlier days of the city when the caretaker might spot Johnny smoking and say, ‘I’m going to tell your mother,’ says Jil Weaving, park board co-ordinator of arts, culture and engagement. “It was a time when Vancouver was really a smaller place and the activities in parks were easier ones to deal with.
“It’s not the same as it used to be; the city has grown so much. The kind of things that go on in parks are often much more complex.”
Although the caretaker job is slowly being phased out through attrition, the caretaker house shall remain. For a few years after the phase-out began 10 years ago, the houses stood empty. In the last three years, however, the houses have found a new purpose. There are 56 caretaker houses in parks throughout Vancouver, and of those, 35 are still home to live-in caretakers. In exchange for free rent, the job of the live-in caretaker is to open and close the washrooms and keep them clean, as well as offer an eyes-on-the-street community presence.
As the caretakers retire and move out, their houses are being converted into field houses for sports teams or artists-in-residence who use them during the day as part of a program run by the park board. Artists apply for the spaces and have a three-year agreement to use them in exchange for 350 hours of community-related work. The first batch is winding down their tenure and the park board is looking for another round of submissions, which are chosen by a panel. Sharon Kallis, an ecoartist, has been using Strathcona’s McLean Park field house as a studio, and for workshops on weaving and dye making, using local plant materials. In the summer, she grew a flax garden to teach people how linen is made. Passersby assume she is the live-in park warden.
“People often come to the door, yes. They want to let us know that there is a toilet overflowing or there’s no toilet paper in washroom, or they found a needle in the park,” she says, seated in her field house studio, which has a small, outdated kitchen and feels uninsulated. Ms. Kallis lives in a co-op apartment 10 blocks away, and can walk to work.
She says the program has given her a chance to make valuable connections in the community, with ecologists and gardeners. Her husband, also an artist, works from another field house nearby.
“It’s been really incredible how people have responded to learning how to weave and working with materials they could harvest themselves,” she says.
There is big demand for recreational and arts and culture spaces, says director of recreation, Thomas Soulliere, which is part of the reason the houses are being repurposed.
“It’s a situation where the fortunate few got in there, and were able to live in some of the most beautiful locations in the city, while having responsibilities in the upkeep of the facilities and around the park,” he says. “As they become vacant, we are looking at what other purposes those buildings might serve. In some cases, we’ve added capital funds to fix them up and bring them up to code, but while still preserving that heritage quality.”
The longest serving park caretaker lived in her east side house for 33 years, before she moved out last December. Several of the caretakers left when they became elderly and the houses became too much work.
In Canada, park caretaker houses are a unique part of the West Coast identity. Mr. Soulliere, who is from Calgary, doesn’t know of a Canadian city outside of the Lower Mainland that operates such houses.
“The more time I spend in Vancouver, the more it makes sense that we would provide these kinds of facilities,” he says. “I think the parks have a special place in people’s hearts in this city. And there’s a real understanding and appreciation for the nostalgic value that these buildings provide.”
The houses are solidly built, so there’s no talk of tearing them down. A few of the older ones are on the heritage registry, including the house at Memorial Park West, located at West 31st Avenue and Dunbar. Caretaker Jack Darcus and his wife, Linda, have lived at the house for 20 years, (their living space is confined to a second-floor suite) and raised their daughter there. Nestled in one of Vancouver’s most beautiful parks, the heritage house is large, with mullioned windows and a cedar shake roof, and believed to have been built in 1932.
“I usually have to call the police about twice a year when a party gets going and things start getting broken, and then the police come and flush it out. But basically, day-by-day, it’s very peaceful. It’s a very nice park,” says Mr. Darcus. “There are parks in rougher areas that do take a tremendous beating – they’ll tear the toilets off the floors every weekend type of thing. So, I’m fortunate.”
Mr. Darcus, 73, a former filmmaker and established painter with a studio on Granville Island, says he’ll stay on at the house as long as he can. Mr. Darcus grew up in Marpole, attended the University of B.C., and has been nominated for several Genie Awards. He hopes the park board will consider continuing the caretaker program, which has enabled him to stay in Vancouver. Over the years, he says he’s met other caretakers with various backgrounds, including police officers, writers and actors. Not surprisingly, he’s also met a lot of people who’d love to become park caretakers.
“It’s been my support in a way, and for my wife, too. She’s a filmmaker. It’s allowed us to carry on with our lives. In terms of the number of people that have profited from that program and given back to the city, it’s numerous.
“And I think it’s better that you have live-in caretakers because they have pride in the place, and responsibility, and everything else that plays into it. And they become part of the neighbourhood, too – I have many friends in the neighbourhood.”
There have been challenges, living in a publicly funded building, even if it is rent-free. When he and his wife and their small daughter first moved into the house, there were rats, raccoons and squirrels living in the attic. About a decade ago, the park board insulated the house, and a couple of years ago, they painted it.
Also, Mr. Darcus and his wife have sat outside the property market all these years, while their contemporaries have seen their house values escalate. That could be viewed as a downside. But he’s not concerned.
“Let’s put it this way, if I can paint something today that somebody is going to want to keep after I’m dead and gone, then I’ve had a very good day. The quality of my life is good. Everything I do is on spec, so it’s not sellable until it’s finished and maybe not even then. That’s the life of an artist. For me, time is far more important than money. Time to work, time to think, time to try stuff out. I have a different set of values perhaps than most people. But no, I don’t regret not having invested in the real estate market.
“It’s everyone’s normal way of going forward. It’s built the city and it keeps it a nice place, and it’s a good way to go. But it’s not my way.”