The hot days of Summer are with us and, no doubt, you’re reaching for a chilled beer or cold glass of milk from the fridge to cool the effects of the heat. Spare a thought then for our predecessors back in the day. The early pioneers of the North Shore had no easily available fridges to chill their much-needed drinks or keep even the most basic of foodstuffs fresh. Instead, they had to use their wits, making use of what nature could afford.

Presentation House, the longest serving public building on the North Shore, is also one of the oldest buildings, an unprepossessing structure in Lower Lonsdale that started, “from a small core structure to a rambling complex”. Serving as a school, city hall, a jail, an art gallery, a museum and a theatre, the building tells the story of the development of North Vancouver. Imagine all the people who have played a part in the life of Presentation House since its start in 1902 – school children, politicians, police, photographers, artists, archivists, actors, musicians, audiences and larger-than-life personalities such as, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and, in April 1972, Muhammed Ali who sparred in the hallway with the City Clerk. There was even a royal drive-by in 1939 by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.