28 * Terrace Review — Wednesday, July 27, 1988 Building repairs un A community built on wood — literally TERRACE — The economy is good and the community is solid. Or is it? It may be that the foundation of our community is built on something less than granite. To be more specific much of our downtown core may be supported by nothing more than sawdust and slabs left by our city’s founders. by Tod Strachan This unrecorded part of our local history first came to light when the concrete floor of the Emerson Medical Clinic on Emerson St. began to sag. This created no immediate excite- ment, the same thing happened in 1982 and it was apparently caused by nothing more than a leaking water main that had eroded the gravel under the building. But this time it was different. There were no water leaks under the floor — just truck load after truck load of sawdust and slabs. So great a volume in fact that it took nearly 30 dump trucks of gravel to fill in the hole. In trying to explain this unusual find, several city pioneers were asked for an answer. And although their memories don’t quite agree, it would appear that the remains of the old horse barn used in the early part of the century by the George Little’s mill has been carted to the dump, There have been other mysterious happenings that have caused no alarm, but from what we're told, the problem with Emerson building could happen again, According to some of our early settlers a large portion of the southern part of the city core was nothing more than a dump- ing ground in the early part of the century. Floyd Frank and Tom Olson recall a time when, as young boys, they played ‘‘Tom Sawyer” with rafts and poles in a slough which is now the 4500 block of Greig Ave. It was no more than a swampy ravine with a small creek at the bottom recalls Frank — and nothing more than a place to skate in the winter, says Olson. But as time passed, the George Little sawmill, located in the vicinity of where Safeway is now, gradually filled this swam- py slough with their refuse of sawdust and slabs — and nature was altered by the wastes of man, a fact some are discovering may have been a mistake. According to Lloyd Johnstone, there were several similar locations in town, One, called ‘‘the ditch’? ran along Lazelle, to a pond near. where Bob’s Welding is now located, before heading southwest to the Skeena. This particular ravine ran between Kalum School, the elementary school in those days, and the high school which is now the School Board’s maintenance shop. This is why when students in years gone by left elementary school to go to high school, they were said to be ‘“‘crossing the ditch”, says Johnstone but he doesn't recall exactly when or how this ravine was filled. Another ravine, the one in question, ran from somewhere west of the Emerson/Greig in- tersection to the Skeena somewhere near the present location of the Nissan dealer, says Johnstone. Much of this ravine was a refuse dump and was filled in during the late thir- ties. Johnstone recalls one other area that is built on fiber fill west of the Sande overpass. This was the site of the area’s first ski hill, he said, but its slopes were nothing more than a_ huge sawdust pile at the Sande mill. When Greig Ave., from Emer- son to Eby, and the Sande over- pass were built in 1968, says Johnstone, the ‘‘ski hill?’ was levelled and covered with four to five feet of gravel. * MUSIC * CASH PRIZES In conjunction with the Terrace Men's Siow-pitch Tournament TERRACE KINSMEN ANNUAL BEEF BARBECUE & CASINO LOCATION: RIVERSIDE PARK (behind curling rink) Saturday, July 30th, 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm Sunday, July 31st, Monday, Aug. 1st, * NAIL DRIVING CONTEST * BELLY FLOP CONTEST * TROPHIES ENTRY FORMS AVAILABLE AT TERRACE MOHAWK or phone Brian at 638-2087 *CONTEST PRIZES SPONSORED BY TERRACE MOHAWK’* 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm cover undergound mystery The Emerson Medical Bullding required floor repairs recently, and what the contractor discovered revealed a little-known plece of our history that could cause problems elsewhere. Unknown to the contractor who built the structure 20 years ago, there was more than just gravel under the concrete floor — there was tons of sawdust and slabs, probably the remnants of the George Little barn bulit in the early 1900's. OME OF BC’S BEST FEATURES ARE IN THEINTERIOR. One drive in the all new Ford Tempo L 4-door will convince you that all its interior - appointments were designed with one goal in mind. Complete driving comfort. Its price is also comforting. The Tempo L 4-door with value package is up to $5,000 Jess than a similarly equipped Toyota Camry DLX. And unlike the Toyota, it comes equipped with air conditioning and AM/FM stereo. 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