Coquitlam Centre 1979

       The New Westminster archives, has been slowly but surely placing their vast collection of photographs online.
            Below is three aerial views of the Coquitlam Centre area in August 1979, interesting that the photographer was Craig Hodge, working for the Columbian newspaper. Craig is today a Coquitlam City councillor. [ NOTE:  these photos were dated as 1981 at the New Westminster Archives, but the Coquitlam Archives informed me that their copies are dated as August 1979, when the Coquitlam Centre Mall first opened.  ]

 

Coquitlam Centre. - 1979

Craig Hodge;  Columbian photo. Record ID  66720  

Google Earth 2008

  Aerial view of Coquitlam. - 1979. Aerial view of Coquitlam, including Coquitlam Centre
and the intersection of Lougheed and Barnett.

photo: Craig Hodge; Record ID 66721

Google Earth 2008

Aerial view of the Barnett highway in Coquitlam. - 1979

shows the Barnett highway, with Coquitlam Centre on the left. The Lougheed Highway crosses Barnett at the top of the photograph.
photo: Craig Hodge; Columbian Photo.   Record ID     66722 

Google Earth 2008

NOTE: Notice how we have lost  considerable greenspace in this area, today it looks considerbly different than these images.

UPDATE: came across this photo in the Coquitlam Archives

1979 Photographer: Craig Hodge

Google Earth 2003

History Today! Garbage truck gets crushed

     I always knew that this spot was an accident in the making, just a matter of time; actually many years ago there was a similar structure nearby that was near the Hudsons Bay loading dock area, it got lightly bumped a few times, but never fell down; they were smart and removed the problem in one of their renovations.
This accident happened near the southwest end of the mall, in an area used as the main loading dock for London Drugs, among others. The accident caused the stores to move their incoming stock through the public areas of the mall into their stores, creating a lot of traffic.
Garbage truck driver miraculously survives as huge beam crashes down on his cab at Coquitlam Centre mall
A few pictures of the area at Flick:   One --- Two  --- Three
The driver was very lucky to get away from this with his life; he was okay.