Seawall's Gritty History: From Blasting to Racing

0:00It's April 27th, this is Canada News Today, driven by AI. Vancouver SeaWolf stands out as one of the city's biggest icons, wrapping around Stanley Park and stretching from Canada Place all the way to Kitsilano Beach. Built over decades, it hits some of its toughest spots in the 1960s, especially near Seawash Rock, known as SSS-Jex-Z7-Elsh to the local first, Nations. Back then, workers had to blast rock to carve out the path you walked today. The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation snapped photos documenting every step, capturing the raw effort to tame the coastline. One key figure in those images is Stone Mason Jimmy Cunningham, who poured more than 30 years into the seawall and even checked on it after, retirement. A shot from August 1963 shows him on the job, and later, his ashes were scattered right there, with a plaque marking the spot and a popular race named in his honor. But nature fought back hard, a massive storm that same year in 1963 washed away 25 feet

1:03of the unfinished wall, sending waves, crashing 50 feet up the cliffs and sweeping off gear like a small cement mixer. That stretch near Seawash Rock wrapped up last in Stanley Park, with a full seawall done by 1971 and the park section finally opening. In 1980, it's a testament to grit that still draws crowds today.