Queen Elizabeth Park, British Columbia

thumb|right|A view of the parkthumb|right|Another view of the park

Queen Elizabeth Park is a municipal park located in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Little Mountain (elevation approximately 168 metres or 550 feet above sea level). Its surface was scarred at the turn of the twentieth century when it was quarried for its rock, which served to build Vancouver's first roadways.

History

In 1930, the park's floral future was somewhat revealed when the BC Tulip Association suggested the notion of transforming the quarries into sunken gardens. By the end of that decade, the site had been turned over to the Vancouver Park Board for park and recreation purposes, and was dedicated as such by King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth (the present Queen's late mother) on their much lauded visit to Vancouver in 1939, as King and Queen of Canada. From that time, Park staff incrementally transformed the overgrown hillsides into Canada's first civic arboretum, with a generous donation from the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association. The popular quarry gardens were designed by Park Board Deputy Superintendent Bill Livingstone and were unveiled in the early 1960s.

Prentice Bloedel's $1.25 million covered the open reservoirs and built the country's first geodesic conservatory surrounded by covered walkways, lighted fountains and a magnificent sculpture (Knife Edge - Two Piece) by...
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