These photographs by Gary Sim show the King George VII Memorial Fountain at the art gallery in
downtown Vancouver, sometime around 1998. The fountain was a gift to the City from the
Imperial Order, Daughters of the Empire, and was unveiled on May 7, 1912. It was originally
located on Georgia Street in front of what was then the Courthouse, now Vancouver Art Gallery.
It had drinking cups chained to the sculpture for use by the public.
It was relocated to Hornby Street when the Centennial Fountain
by R.H. Savery was installed, then put in storage. Later, it was
reinstalled on Hornby Street, where it is seen here. It was in need of restoration, some of
which has been done. The fountain was gifted to the City of Vancouver with the
stipulation that the City look after it and provide water for the fountain "in perpetuity."
Some wit had graffiti'd a "D" in front of the fountain's title. I was going to digitally
erase it, but came to my senses just in time, I'm not a historical revisionist.
UPDATE: The plaza around the fountain was upgraded in 2022, but it took months for the
construction hoarding to finally be removed. On July 29 2022 I went by the gallery again, and
was able to photograph the memorial in its current state. The fountain was not restored, and
at the moment water is not being provided to the citizens "in perpetuity."
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