1.
Coquitlam's city archive collection is booming
By The Tri­City News
Published: January 28, 2015 09:00 AM
Updated: January 28, 2015 09:339 AM
The archives at Coquitlam city hall got a little more crowded in 2014.
Hundreds of documents, ledger books, correspondence and old photographs were donated last year, with one of
the largest acquisitions coming from the Coquitlam Heritage Society.
Emily Lonie, the city’s archivist, said the collection of glass plate negatives, oral histories and hundreds of old
photographs — mainly from Maillardville and Fraser Mills — has been the largest acquisition so far.
“That brought us most of our historic images,” said Lonie, who has a master’s degree in public history from
Carleton University and spent four years at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa. “That collection… is the one
that researchers ask for the most.”
Other 2014 acquisitions include:
• Riverview Historical Society’s glass plate negatives, with more than 100 images of early Colony Farm and
Riverview, then known as Essondale;
• the Don Cunnings collection, which includes news clippings, pamphlets and other archives related to sports in

2. Coquitlam and the 1991 BC Summer Games;
• Canadian Western Lumber Company ledger books, photos and textual materials;
• and ledgers, administrative records, news clippings and reports from the Northeast Coquitlam Ratepayers
Association.
Jay Gilbert, a clerk with the city of Coquitlam, said with the municipality’s support of the archives, residents have
been less reticent to donate their materials.
“If you are asking someone to give you their family’s history, they want to have some degree of confidence that
it is going to a place where it will be looked after,” he said.
So far, the collection consists of about 50 linear metres of material, and the 300­sq. ft. room in the basement of
city hall is getting crowded. Gilbert said options are being discussed about a permanent location for the archives.
The collection is open to the public by appointment only and donations are welcome. Some of the materials can
be searched on the city’s website at www.coquitlam.ca/archives.
HOT AND READY
The construction of a new heating and cooling energy system at several Coquitlam civic facilities has been
completed and is expected to significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gas they emit.
Invented by B.C. engineer Jeff Weston, the Thermenex System is a water­filled pipe with hot and cold ends,
using refrigeration technology to create a thermal gradient. The technology works through a system of
reclaiming energy and has been used at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex since 2009.
Last year, the city decided to adopt the system at the Four Corners civic campus, which includes the Coquitlam
RCMP detachment, the City Centre Aquatic Complex and the Evergreen Cultural Centre, and allows future
facilities to hook up.
“When it achieves optimum performance, this Thermenex system will have prevented 500 tonnes of CO2
[equivalent] from being released into the atmosphere,” according to a city staff report. “This is equivalent to the
emissions from consuming 215,000 litres of gasoline or burning 540,000 lb. of coal every year.”
The system, which had an approved budget of $3.5 million, will be fully operational by March.
While environmental benefits were a major reason for the decision to implement the Thermenex system, it was
also projected to save the city in energy costs. However, the anticipated savings could be smaller than
anticipated, given the falling price of natural gas and oil.
Perry Staniscia, the city’s manager of strategic initiatives, said it is too early to say what impact falling energy
prices will have on Coquitlam’s projected savings with the system.
A comprehensive report outlining all the figures, including GHG and cost savings, would be made available to
council at the end of the year, he said.
@GMcKennaTC
gmckenna@tricitynews.com
Find this article at:
http://www.tricitynews.com/news/290086521.html