This year marks the 10th annual Richmond Maritime Festival taking place at the Britannia Heritage Shipyards from Aug. 9 to 11.
And the City of Richmond has been hard at work restoring the 60-year-old Seine Net Loft on the Britannia property.
Once used in the construction and repair of fishing boat nets the loft will be officially unveilied to the public, said program facilitator Kimberly Baker.
Were doing the Voices of Britannia the people, the stories and the future. We have a lifeboat that weve gotten a canvas cover made for it, and were inviting the community to paint on it their thoughts, feelings and impressions of Britannia, said Baker.
Visitors can wander the 2,000-square-foot building and see the large interactive art installation featuring fishing props and archived pictures.
There are nets suspended from the ceiling with photographs streaming down of visitors over the years, and the people who lived and worked at Britannia.
People will also have a chance to learn about the Lubzinski brothers. Jack and Joseph Lubzinski started a marine products company in 1951 making wooden steering wheels for boats all over the world, and the original equipment they used will be on display.
Fenwick said there will be volunteers on the grounds and in the other buildings telling tales and talking about the history of Britannia, such as how the shipyard building was built in 1889.
It was originally Britannia Cannery up until basically 1917. There was the Hells Gate disaster in 1912 they were putting in a railroad track and using explosives to get rid of rock and it caused a landslide into the Fraser River. That year, salmon were coming home to spawn and it blocked their path that virtually devastated the area for salmon fishing. Many canneries closed down.
At the time, the 49 or so canneries that were strewn along the river were repurposed for other industries in 1917.
They were such great buildings and men could work under covered areas. This one was changed into a shipyard.
The Anglo-British Columbia Packing Company used it to repair their fishing fleet that went out to other areas to fish for species other than salmon.
You can learn about all this and more at the festival, which includes an appearance from tall ship Lady Washington, running from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. the entire weekend. For more information visit the website or call 604-718-8050.
