sullen monuments

In the graceless state of the semi-industrial eastside, I have driven by these two sites countless times and not given them too much thought...

but the recent installation of Ken LUM's pseudo-monumental EAST VAN CROSS glowing at the intersection of Clark Drive and Great Northern Way has enlightened me to examine more closely these odd and neglected "monuments" in the midst of an arid landscape of overhead Skytrain tracks and the nondescript commercial structures below...

 This monolithic stone stairway does not lead to some sacred temple or sweet secret folly, but the statuary lining the edges might have one believe that a grander pavilion perched above will reward the climb...

Turn around at the top and the view northwards is expansive across a desolate stretch of Great Northern Way and as yet undeveloped swath of prime inner city land...

 Go up the small hill [where the CROSS burns brightly] and turn left onto Clark Drive, and this strange little "square" is easy to miss tucked in as it is beside a car service garage on a non-pedestrian friendly street...

 The unornamented raw concrete structure embraces a round plaza sunken a few steps down - the perfectly trimmed shrubs have almost fully filled in the openings between the pillars, thereby obliterating the view of the mountains...

 The lonely pedestal in the center of the plaza is obviously missing a statue and the small plaque left on it only bears a mysterious date - the commemoration day of the site perhaps...

 As the skytrains swoosh by above every few minutes, the hollow mechanical sound fills this dejectedly hidden site as harshly as the half-hearted brutalist design of a monument that was once dedicated to, grandly enough, Christopher Columbus...