The Gibby’s Field Vision Statement, as agreed at the Kensington-Cedar Cottage (KCC) CityPlan Committee meeting on Thursday 1 February 2007. 

Given that

·  1454, 1458, and 1462 East 18th Avenue are city-owned lots that have never been developed.

·  The lots are known as “Gibby’s Field” after “Old Man Gibby”, the name neighbourhood children gave to Moses Gibson, the former owner of the lots (1893-circa 1915).

·  Moses Gibson (1850-1937) was a prominent citizen within Kensington–Cedar Cottage and the former municipality of South Vancouver (1892-1929).

·  Two major local streams, Gibson Creek and Davy Creek, once met directly south of Gibby’s Field and flowed across it.

·  Gibby’s Field contains a stream bed.

It is proposed to

1.  Turn Gibby’s Field into a viable community green space.

2.  Acknowledge the historical and cultural value of Gibby’s Field.

3.  Recognize the urban ecology of Gibby’s Field and enhance its natural features.

Comment on Vision Statement by Arn Keeling

The Vision Statement notes that an important aspect of Gibby’s Field is its historical and cultural value — to the immediate neighbourhood, Cedar Cottage, and further afield.  Arn Keeling, a professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, has commented

[Gibby’s Field] is as much a place of cultural as environmental significance.  After all, it is a remnant of original agricultural settlement in the area; it’s a place neighbourhood children remembered well playing around; and it’s a place that people used over the years as a “natural” refuge.

He added that perhaps the greatest significance of Gibby’s Field is

the social changes this tiny patch of land has witnessed go on around it for a hundred years, and the meaning it has for the neighbourhood.