Editor:
I enjoyed reading “Delta throwback: A Cold War residential community” by Sandor Gyarmati (June 2, 2021).
The important heritage site in Delta has been preserved as the North 40 Park Reserve for the enjoyment of visitors. It is also great to acknowledge the role of the top-secret Vancouver Wireless Station used to monitor soviet radio signals during the cold war. This is often overlooked in displays of the Boundary Bay Airport history. However, unlike the residential community, where all the buildings were removed, the Vancouver Wireless Station building remains standing in the middle of the Boundary Bay Airfield.
A couple of years ago, we were privileged to have one of the intercept operators, Bill Rogers, talk about his work in the monitoring station and life in the residential community during a meeting of Delta Amateur Radio Society. The talk is now preserved as an Oral History (https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Bill_Rogers) by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) History Site.
There has been a proposal to demolish the old Vancouver Wireless Station building although it has been saved mainly due to the high cost of demolition and asbestos removal. It would be tragic to see another important historic building lost and it reminds me of the story of Bletchley Park which was the top-secret home of Second World War code breakers. This too was slated to be demolished to make way for a superstore but has now been preserved as a heritage attraction and museum. Let us not lose another historic building to progress.
Chris Scholefield
