After three moves and a $1.1 million renovation, the Appleyard/Centennial House is ready for its final role as an addition to the Port Moody Arts Centre (PMAC).
And a former resident of the century-old home couldn't be happier about its transformation.
Geoff Goodship, who grew up in the home in the 1930s and 1940s, told The Tri-City News last month the home's reclamation by the PMAC society is "like a fairy tale."
It gives him goosebumps to think that the place he spent hours playing and growing up as a kid will now be home to artists, musicians and other performers.
"When I came home from the hospital [in 1932], it was the house I was raised in," notes Goodship, a former school administrator who now lives in Campbell River. "It's like some kind of a magical story. I know that my grandma would be positively delighted."
Goodship and his wife, Freddie, will be guests of honour at the Sept. 6 grand opening of the new arts centre addition. On their visit, the couple will get a tour of the new building with its glass atrium, studios and performing arts parlour.
Goodship says he can't wait for the opportunity to see the house in its new incarnation and view what touches remain from the building he grew up in. After all, the 82-year-old man has many memories of the home that was built roughy around 1910 at 2717 Clarke St., by his grandfather Frederick Appleyard.
His grandmother, Minnie, was kept in the dark about the construction details. Goodship suspects she never forgave her husband for that, although the couple was happily married for many years. They eventually moved to the bungalow next door and Goodship's family moved into the big house. He remembers the first phone that was installed in the home. "I had to stand on tiptoes on a chair to reach the mouthpiece," he recalls.
Ann Kitching, PMAC society president, says she's also looking forward to the grand opening.
The celebration starts at 10 a.m. at PMAC (2425 St. John's St.) with speeches, tours and refreshments. PMAC also has a photo exhibit up until Sept. 14, called Making the Connection, which documents the expansion project.
