Fish mosaics at New West’s Sapperton Landing set to be fixed

South of Columbia Street, between Cumberland and Richmond, there’s a quiet greenway in line with the Fraser River. Sapperton Landing Park, which includes a one-kilometre walk, picnic tables and benches, is a great choice for watching tug boats go by.

But there’s one spot at the landing that isn’t looking so great: New West Anchor reader Liz Smith reached out to us to ask about the fish mosaics dotted along the space.

“The sad thing is, they are starting to show signs of wear, and possibly vandalism. Some of the tiles looked like they have been chipped away in a deliberate manner,” she wrote. 

In the photos she sent, one of the art pieces is completely gone; instead of tiles depicting sea life, there’s a square tile of concrete. Another photo shows a creation with the name L. Van Alstine engraved onto the art. You can’t tell exactly what it is, however, because a large chunk of the tile is gone. 

Smith also asked how the murals ended up there—and so began a nearly two-month process to figure out not only who was responsible for the mosaics and whether they could be fixed, but how they ended up spawning, so to speak, at the park. 

What we know about Sapperton Landing

Between a visit to Sapperton Landing, some of the knowledge I had about the space, and the information available online, there were a few things I was able to deduce: this was a space Metro Vancouver appeared to be responsible for. Metro Vancouver’s staple blue and white signs were at the entrance to the park. 

There are a variety of agencies that own parks in BC: some are owned by the province, which you might know as BC Parks. The city also owns some parks, while Metro Vancouver has some they are responsible for. 

Turns out, however, that Sapperton Landing—which was created in 2001—had a bit of a unique partnership: the park is on property belonging to the City of New Westminster. The park was funded by what was then referred to as the Millennium SkyTrain Line development (Sapperton station is now part of the Expo Line) and Metro Vancouver maintains it. The park is also part of the Central Valley Greenway. 

Metro Vancouver working to fix the murals

I reached out to Metro Vancouver to ask whether it would be able to fix the artwork. A few weeks later, I was told that the pieces in question are being looked at.

“The area where these tiles are located is overseen by Metro Vancouver Regional Parks,” a spokesperson for Metro Vancouver said in a statement to New West Anchor. “Staff are exploring how best to replace the damaged tiles and fund the repair or replacement work. We will be engaging with our municipal partner, City of New Westminster, on the best approach, however next steps are still under consideration.”

While it was great to hear that Metro Vancouver would try to fix the tiles, it turned out the trickier piece of the story was nailing down how exactly the murals ended up there. 

A ‘reel-y’ challenging question

More Sapperton Landing sleuthing led me to what appears to be an old page for the McBride-Sapperton Residents’ Association. New West Anchor reached out to verify the page, but did not receive a response by deadline. The page, last updated on May 29, 2008, includes a link to the option “public art in Sapperton.” Photos show a boy visiting the murals. On the same page was a link to a press release that appeared to be from TransLink—referred to as Rapid Transit Project 2000, Ltd. 

Rapid Transit Project 2000 no longer exists, as it was struck to create the first iteration of the Millennium Line. TransLink told me that it appeared Rapid Transit Project 2000 Ltd. was under the purview of the provincial government, and when the provincial government tried to search for this particular release, it couldn’t find anything—as the man who assisted with my query put it to me, that information was probably lost to the sands of time. 

There was still one place that might have the answers: the Rapid Transit Project release had mentioned the schools that took part in the contest. I reached out to the New Westminster School District—and it turns out someone on staff remembered the project. 

‘The beginning of a lot of these kinds of [community] projects’

In 2001, Paul Manville was a teacher just starting his career at Ecole Herbert Spencer Elementary School. “[My class was probably] Grade 5, Grade 4. I was a full-time teacher there.”

Manville says he vividly remembers walking down to Sapperton Landing one day—not long after the project wrapped up—and seeing the names of the kids from his class in the artwork. “I went, ‘Oh! That’s where they’re putting them! That’s what they’re doing with it!’ And I thought that was cool,” he tells New West Anchor. 

Fast forward to today, and Manville, who is now the principal at Queen Elizabeth Elementary, says he remembers talking to some of his students about the project. “I remember seeing the names of Brooke and Megan—those are the kids that stuck out in my mind—and I remember seeing their projects were there.”

Manville was able to confirm some of the details that appeared in the release from Rapid Transit Project 2000 Ltd.: a local artist named Jill Doyle worked with the students to create the project. Manville recalls her son attending school at Ecole Herbert Spencer. 

“[Jill] was just a fabulous art teacher…she did a number of things. I could be wrong, but I think she did some greeting cards with us in one year that was based on this African elephant art theme, and we were raising money [for a cause],” explains Manville. 

“I just remember [the fish mosaics] in my mind, being the beginning of a lot of these kinds of projects. It was really impressive work. It brought everyone together,” says Manville, who adds that the project was, for a while, a large part of discussion for kids, staff and parents. “It’s a neat thing for kids. It becomes a part of our fabric.”

Manville thinks the kids who were a part of the project are now in their late 20s or early 30s. 

“To have [artwork] be out somewhere in the community, beyond the walls of your school? I think that was pretty powerful for the kids.”

And it’s that power in that community presence that Smith—the reader whose note spurred this investigation—is hoping will last for many years to come. 

“Drawing people’s attention to them,” she explains, “they could be saved for future generations to enjoy.”