Champlain Heights is a neighbourhood in the south east corner of Vancouver, BC, Canada. It was one of the last areas of Vancouver to be urbanized, on a then undeveloped 614 acre tract of land.
Harold Kalman, an architectural historian stated, “The showcase residential community was planned in the early 1970s, with curved roads and cul-de-sacs serving a mix of housing types and income levels.” According to planning documents, the goals for Champlain Heights were to accommodate a broad range of life styles and incomes within the community, to establish identifiable neighbourhoods, to separate pedestrian from vehicular traffic where possible, and to retain and emphasize the natural amenities of the area and integrate them into the development.
Champlain Heights is known today as a family-friendly community with a mix of housing types (market, co-operative, and social) built around green spaces and walking trails, including Everett Crowley Park, the fifth largest park in Vancouver. Its fascinating history, though, is often overlooked. And so – The Champlain Heights Archive was born, a community archives with a focus on collecting, documenting and shining a light on the history of the Champlain Heights neighbourhood.