By Jim Gerwing

One of our readers, Janice Ringuette, wrote to ask me where I am getting the stories about Beacon Hill Park. She rightly guessed it was from a monumental work she did combing through 150 years of newspaper stories on microfilm. It truly is a treasure trove for lovers of the park. You can visit the comprehensive, chronological history of the park at www.islandnet.com/beaconhillpark. It’s free!

This issue I point out an astonishing proposal to build a rustic replica of the Parthenon on top of Beacon Hill. The plan was put forward by the Vancouver Island Development League. The Colonist gave its blessing, printing a five-column sketch on the first page of the July 11, 1909 issue. Architect John Wilson proposed dimensions half the size of the original, to be constructed of massive logs donated by a local hotel.

An editorial three days later gushed with enthusiasm at the prospect of conventions, large assemblies, and spreading Victoria’s fame throughout the whole world. A powerful light at the top would make it visible from far and wide. A reader suggested that the hill clad in broom is more beautiful than any edifice could make it, but the editor countered that the combination of broom and building would be a majestic picture indeed.

Not everyone agreed, of course. The next day a reader, Arthur Davies, called the building “a tumorous monstrosity in the shape of an asinine imitation of the Parthenon”…which would “desecrate the beauties of Beacon Hill.” He also suggested that it would be far better for the city to throw the estimated cost ($75,000) into the streets.

Thanks to clearer minds, nothing came of the plans, and the hill remained relatively unscathed, and today even the broom is kept under control by the Friends of Beacon Hill Park.