A magnificent structure on the Vancouver landscape that has been badly neglected for many successive incarnations of the Park Board.

In observing the opposition to the Park Board’s decision to cut subsidies to the Stanley Park petting zoo and the Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park, it seems as though the loss of the latter is a lot more painful for those interested parties.

And why not.  The historic Bloedel Conservatory was constructed in 1969 as a result of Seattle-based lumber magnate and avid art collector Prentice Bloedel, who made a substantial contribution that transformed an abandoned basalt quarry into a magnificently sculpted public-use plaza with an intriguing, futuristic (at the time) centrepiece.  The conservatory came together through a 1967 City of Vancouver Canadian Centennial project that evolved and took on a life of its own.

The plexiglass paneled geodesic dome is home to hundreds of varieties of tropical trees, shrubs and flowers as well as pathways, water features and animals, including over 100 species of birds who call the dome home.

But with a crack in the famed dome, this structure is not only in need of a new marketing plan as some have suggested.

On top of this dramatic structural damage, 80 plexiglass bubbles on the roof are also in desperate need of replacement.

A new roof for the heritage-protected building is expected to cost an astounding $1.5 to $2-million.

But if we look into the past, it is easy to understand how we have ended up with the conservatory’s current sorry state.

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