History of Bayview Village
This is a summary of the early years. Thanks to Gayle Abram and Joan Pierce for contributing so many great photos. Click here for more Historic Photos.
THE EARLY YEARS
1990. Marble Bay Road with Russ Braidwood and Gayle Abram's Suzuki
Photo courtesy of Gayle Abram, 1990.
When the developer Joe Bourque bought the property in the mid-1980s, “the cottage” on the water side of the road was already there. It was probably built in the 1920s. In the late 1980s, Marble Bay Road was a dirt road. It was paved around 1996 by BC Highways.
The developer originally planned to first develop some of the lots behind Marble Bay Road. The lots and the property behind and above were fairly heavily treed. Plans changed, however, and the first lots to be available for sale in the late 1980s were the 15 lots fronting on Marble Bay Road, plus the cottage. The brochure advertising the lots for sale promised a tennis court, an inground swimming pool and other amenities which were never built.
1990 Laundry/Shower building under construction in the meadow.
The developer built the original dock, built the deck above the docks, drilled the well and installed the water tower/pump house, built the three septic fields, and the laundry/shower building. There was a bit of a pond, but it didn’t always have water in it.
1991 Flyer with prices.
HISTORY OF THE LOTS
The First 16 Lots on Marble Bay Road: The first 16 lots were formed into Strata 2083. The lots were available for sale at prices from $24,900 to $28,900, with Lot #16 (the Cottage on the water) listed at $110,000.
- On September 1, 1991, Brian Granton (Lot #14) chaired what was described as an Informal Meeting of Lot Owners #1-16, prior to the formation of the first strata council.
- On September 29, 1991, the first AGM was held.
- The first Council arising from the first AGM consisted of Lot #1 Warren Little (President), Lot #14 Brian Granton (Finance), Lot #13 Bill Harper (Maintenance), Lot #9 Shirley Gerich (Secretary), Lot #5 Kerry Campbell (Security/Safety), Lot #16 Dave Sackett (Special Projects) and Lot #15 Judy Watts (Standards). They met around the same round table that still sits on Warren’s deck.
Stage Two, Phase 1: In 1994, a second Strata was formed consisting of Lots 17-47. The original list price of Lots 17-47 was from $29,900 to $44,900 (plus GST of course).
Stage Two, Phase 2: Lots 48-60 were formed into Strata VIS 3032 in 1997.
Eventually, all three stratas were merged into new Strata VIS 4663 (Bayview Village).
HISTORY OF THE DOCKS
Original docks in 1991.
When the lots were first offered for sale in the late 1980s, the dock consisted of just the main dock that was about 2/3 as long as it is now. There were no pilings to keep the dock in place, and it was located east of where it is now, almost as far as the cottage on the beach. At the beach end of the dock was a huge cottonwood tree, which has since blown down in a winter storm. A family of beavers has inhabited the bay for most of the last 25 years.
Dock sections in 1992, awaiting construction of dock. Original sales office in background.
In 1992, the dock was moved to its current location, and fingers were added. Free fiberglass-coated plywood floats were donated by a marina in Sidney and supported Bayview’s first fingers. Russ Braidwood, along with some helpers, built the wooden decking for the fingers. The hardware for the fingers was designed and built by Warren Little. The first fingers attached only to the main dock. Later a perpendicular dock was added, along with more fingers. Pilings added later. When the Cottages at Marble Bay became a reality, the eastern end of the perpendicular dock was extended to accommodate more fingers. There are a total of 80 slips.
Barge moving dock to new location in 1992.
2001 Rendezvous Construction
SUBSEQUENT ADDITIONS
Over the next few years, the Strata added the pump system to keep the pond full of water. They also built the addition to the docks (see below) and the Rendezvous shelter. Early owners planted the landscaping in the rock work above the beach.
When Woodland Shores was in its early stages, Strata 4663 could foresee additional traffic along Marble Bay Road. For the safety of Bayview's owners and guests, the Strata negotiated that the developer of Woodland Shores build the pathway along the road.
1990 High Water up to Marble Bay Road.
1997 High Water
Extreme Weather Over the Years
In February, 1992, and again in March, 1994, heavy rains, winter runoffs, and high water levels resulted in the lake water rising up high enough to cover Marble Bay Road. Owners recall rowing their tin boats down Marble Bay Road to check on their cottages. Lot #16, the cottage on the lake side of the Marble Bay Road, sustained quite a bit of water damage. In fact, the owner’s boat floated in his garage and hit the ceiling!
1992 Flooded Cottage on the Beach (Lot #16)
1990. Brian Granton by Welcome sign.
Occasionally a wind storm has swept through Marble Bay and felled trees, sometimes onto Strata structures or owners’ properties. There have also been occasional cold weather spells resulting in deep snow, and even an occasion to skate on the pond!
1992 Damage to Pumphouse by Windstorm
1993 Skating on the Pond
JOHN RUSSELL'S MEMORIES (Lot #26)
John Russell recalls that during the mid-90s, he along with Russ Braidwood, Graham Shaw, and John Vant had regular meetings with Rick Bourque, the developer. The Vant property is now owned by the Tims. The first unofficial corn roast was held around that time, as well as sports days for the kids, and several golf tournaments. John uses the term “golf” loosely as they were often events where wooden clubs were constructed to hit balls into holes around the park.
John also recalls that the mid-90s saw the Bayview Players entertaining anyone who wanted to attend. This involved their daughter, Kathryn, and Ashley Vant writing and producing little plays about the park or anything topical at the time. Who can forget Al Petley's stage all lit up, with sound and lighting created by Graham Shaw, or Russ Braidwood performing a cameo appearance in Lake Gimp, a takeoff on Forest Gump.
DALE BAILEY'S MEMORIES (Lot #17)
Dale remembers that for three or four years running, she and Bob Lee hosted every event: Meet & Greet, Canada Day races, Pancake breakfast and Baron of Beef / Corn Roast. Dale also remembers cleaning the mens and ladies washrooms/showers every time they were up (just about every weekend in the summer). It was Dale who first came up with the guidelines for ordering the food amounts, etc., for the various events. It was Carmen Bailey, Ashley Vant (Lot #23), and Kathryn Russell Lot #26) who named the 3 different areas: the Beach bums (lots 1-16), the Ridge Rats (lots 17-18), the Pond Scummers and the Meadow Muffins.
Contact Current Council of Bayview Village