Project Name: Rogers Pass Memorial – Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, BC
Client: City of Vancouver
Project Description:
On August 12th, 2010, Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver held a ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Rogers Pass Avalanche. The disaster, which took place near midnight on March 4th 1910, claimed the lives of 58 CPR labourers, including 30 Japanese and two Canadian workers who were buried at Mountain View. It remains the worst avalanche disaster in Canadian history.
As part of an initiative sponsored by the Revelstoke Museum & Archives, Revelstoke Railway Museum, Canadian Pacific Railway and Parks Canada, Mountain View Cemetery commissioned LEES+Associates to develop memorial elements to mark the area where 30 of the 32 victims were buried. Individual bronze plaques, designed by LEES+Associates and cast by local artist, Derek Rowe, were placed on the graves.
Each medallion featured a bas relief origami crane, the traditional Japanese symbol of hope. The corners of the burial plot were marked with custom cast “guide stones” inspired by Japanese “miyoshi,” traditional stone lanterns. The August ceremony incorporating Buddhist and Christian traditions was attended by family members and dignitaries from Japan. As a broader tribute, 16 Yoshino cherries were planted to identify the section where the Japanese victims were buried.
