Message to mayor-don't dump on Challenger map

To the editor:

The article regarding our beloved Challenger map brought back memories of a few years ago when word was released that the map was going to be moved from Hastings Park ("Mayor holding up Challenger map project," Nov. 28).

There was quite a public outcry and it brought on a rash of suggestions how it could be saved so a new generation could enjoy. At that time, I sent in two suggestions-both were accepted as possibilities for a new location for the map but I never heard another word, and the Challenger map was finally buried in a warehouse, never to be heard of again until your story in the Courier.

My suggestion was to set the map up in our new airport (there's enough room). I could visualize people arriving in Vancouver and coming down the long escalator and there in front of them is our entire province.

My other suggestion was to have our local unions contribute money to build a place to house the Challenger. The building would be constructed to appear like a huge log cabin keeping it as a true Pacific Northwest attraction and be located at Lumberman's Arch.

I do hope the Courier's Challenger story will save the map so the public will get to enjoy it once again and our children will get to see why B.C. is really the greatest place on earth (forgetting politics of course.)

Ron Robinson, Vancouver

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To the editor:

I have travelled a great deal in my lifelong job as a travel agent and cannot think of ever having been to a place in our wonderful world with a "business card" like the Challenger map .

Attractive, informative, showing the big picture of B.C. and inviting visitors to explore the region further-it is beyond compare.

I've had the pleasure of hosting many foreign visitors and never missed the opportunity to show them the Challenger map. It is a major attraction and must be preserved.

I wonder if those picking on it as "outdated" have ever seen it, especially when it still had the gantry over it. At the Convention Centre, its effect on visitors would be even greater than at the airport, where everybody is in a hurry. The parochial vision from the Mayor's office should not end at the city limits.

Kurt Maurer, Vancouver

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To the editor:

It's pretty difficult to understand just what Mayor Campbell and his personal assistant Geoff Meggs are saying in regards to the Challenger map being out of date.

The Challenger map is the world's largest topographical map, which displays the mountains, rivers, lakes, inlets and islands of British Columbia. Does the mayor know something that British Columbians don't realize? Have we lost mountains? Have new mountain ranges appeared since 1990? Have rivers changed their direction? Have new lakes appeared? Have other lakes drained?

Meggs stated that he personally wonders what the educational value of the map is. Lee Southern, executive director of the B.C. School Trustees and a member of the Challenger map advisory group says, "The map would be an especial attraction for teachers seeking to enhance their classes' understanding of our province. Indeed thousands of school children have already seen the map-testimony to its educational value."

Former premier Bill Bennett, in his letter of support for the map, said, "The map has a special attraction to teachers seeking to enhance their classes understanding of our province."

Maybe Mayor Campbell and Geoff Meggs should take a course in British Columbia geography.

Alan C. Clapp, Challenger Map Advisory Group

To the editor:

Geoff Meggs has likely already learned how his comments about the Challenger map being "out of date and no longer relevant" are being overwhelmingly considered capricious, at best.

History is never out of date and always relevant. Many food stores, public buildings and at least three elevators I'm aware of display old black and white photographs of Vancouver in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They're captivating, informative and always a reminder.

That being said, it would seem the map deserves a larger public audience and a place where more British Columbians could enjoy it, but also a place where visitors could view it. I'm not sure the convention centre qualifies on both levels.

Ken Fabok, Vancouver

posted on 12/06/2004