AWARDS

Mountain View Cemetery

• In February 2009, a Regional Award of Merit was awarded to LEES+Associates and Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg by the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) for work on the Mountain View Cemetery Masonic Redevelopment for the City of Vancouver. Mountain View Cemetery Project

Air India Memorial

• In March 2008, LEES+Associates received a CSLA National Award of Merit for the Air India Memorial in Stanley Park.
  (PDF) Canadian Society of Landscape Architects 'Awards of Excellence"

Woodlands Memorial Garden

• In October 2005, the BCACL presented LEES+Associates with a Partnership Award for their dedicated and creative design work on the Woodlands Memorial Garden during the BCACL 50th Anniversary Gala Celebration.
  

NEWS

• October 18-20, 2011 – ELAC attends Ontario Association of Cemetery and Funeral Professionals  (OACFP) Conference ELAC Principal Erik Lees, and ELAC Associate Steve Rupert attended the 98th annual OACFP conference in Richmond Hill. Last year, ELAC Associate Damian Bradley prepared this video documenting the 97th annual conference in Deerhurst: The Road To Discovery (video)

• August 2010 - 1910 Rogers Pass Snow Slide Commemoration On August 12, 2010, Mountain View Cemetery commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Rogers Pass Avalanche, the worst avalanche disaster in Canadian history, which claimed the lives of 58 CPR labourers, including 30 Japanese workers. Graves of each victim buried at the cemetery were marked with bronze plaques designed by LEES+Associates and cast by local artist, Derek Rowe. Commemorative ceremony for avalanche victims at Mountain View Cemetery August 12
  
  
• July 2010 – Ontario Office Opens – LEES+Associates is pleased to announce the official expansion into Ontario with the opening of our office in Newmarket, Ontario.  Located 20 minutes north of Toronto in the York Region, we look forward to enhancing service to our clients in the Greater Toronto Area and reaching out to new clients throughout Ontario, Eastern Canada and the United States.  We bring to Ontario a wealth of knowledge and expertise in urban and rural open space planning, design and project management. These skills, combined with those in our Vancouver, BC office and the recent acquisition of high quality GPS equipment significantly increases the value and convenience we are able to offer our clients.
  
  
• July 2010 - ELAC undertakes Canada's first Green Audit for cemeteries
  As leaders in sustainable cemetery design, Lees + Associates has partnered with engineering firm “EcoIndustrial Solutions,” to complete Canada’s first cemetery environmental audit at Royal Oak Burial Park in Victoria. Our team is developing a series of cemetery-specific environmental indicators in key areas such as ghg emissions, energy consumption and water use which will be used to establish baselines for site environmental performance. An analysis of these baselines in light of cemetery operations will determine where meaningful improvements can be made. Our green audit reports will be site-specific and provide a prioritized framework of actions that can be taken to improve cemetery environmental performance. The reports will be tailored to each site’s operational needs and provide cemetery operators a functional and meaningful tool for improving the sustainability of their sites.
  
  
• On April 14 2010, Principal Erik Lees and Senior Associate Catriona Hearn led a successful tour of the Woodlands, the green burial area at Royal Oak Burial Park in Victoria. Over 50 delegates visited the site, which was designed by LEES+Associates in 2009, as part of the FSABC/CCABC joint annual conference.
  
  
• A Night For All Souls, 2011 at Mountain View Cemetery
  On October 30, 2011 the 7th annual Night For All Souls event was held at Mountain View Cemetery. The event was created to provide opportunities for the public to commemorate their dead in a family oriented community art event. The following video shows the history behind the creation of this unique and spiritual event. Courtesy of Gord Inglis and Greater Dot Vancouver tv. Story and video provided by gvtv.

• Canada’s First Green Burial at Royal Oak Burial Park
  On November 6, 2008 Canada’s first green burial took place at “The Woodlands,” situated in Royal Oak Burial Park in Victoria, BC. LEES + Associates was retained by Royal Oak to design this interment area, which is the first natural burial area in Canada to be developed within an existing cemetery. The following document describes the philosophy and concept of the green burial area at Royal Oak. (PDF) Green Burial At Royal Oak
  
  
  

Recently Appointed

• Parkview Cemetery Development Project – City of Waterloo, ON

Since 1966, the municipally owned Parkview Cemetery has been providing the community of Waterloo with quality cemetery services. Recognizing that Parkview Cemetery is nearly at capacity, the City has identified and approved a 3.2 hectare (8 acre) parcel of land within Bechtel Park to be reallocated as cemetery land. LEES+Associates has been engaged to complete a cemetery project plan for the new parcel of land that will provide interment and memorial services to Waterloo’s diverse cultural and religious community over the next 10 or more years.

• Cemetery Master Plan – City of Salmon Arm, BC

In order to continue to provide cemetery services for its growing resident base, the City of Salmon Arm has acquired a 10 hectare parcel of land for a new cemetery. Our team will be completing a master plan that will guide the development and operation of a cemetery property that will meet the needs of the community for the foreseeable future. The Master Plan will seek to incorporate leading edge design trends related to environmental protection, opportunities for community engagement and passive recreation, interment and memorial options, cemetery operations and management considerations.

• North Lethbridge Cemetery Design and Construction Services, City of Lethbridge, AB

Stantec Consulting and LEES+Associates have been retained to design and supervise construction of the first phase of the new North Lethbridge Cemetery. This will involve the preparation of detailed design and construction documents based on a conceptual design prepared by LEES+Associates in the Cemetery Services Master Plan (2010). Located in North Lethbridge along the coulee tops of the Oldman River Valley, Phase 1 of the new cemetery is expected to serve the Lethbridge community for the next 20 years.