Campaign underway to save 'Aintree'

Campaign underway to save ‘Aintree’ house
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published May 7, 2003

A public campaign to save the fire-ravaged 1927 'Aintree' home at Burnaby Lake regional park is gaining momentum.
Ilone Winter, a former tenant of the once stately home, wants supporters of saving the heritage site to gather on the GVRD-owned property this Saturday morning.
"No other place has affected me as much as that house," said Winters, who first lived in the home in the early 1980s when he was a student at SFU, and then again about six years ago when he began his career as an artist.
The home, which is one of the few remaining examples of the English Cottage style of architecture still standing in the city, was devastated by a fire of undetermined origin last Wednesday morning.
Ed Andrusiak, manager of GVRD parks, said a review is underway to determine if the house is salvageable, and at what cost.
But even if the regional government does not have enough money to restore the home, Winters believes the public will step up to the plate and join a community fundraising effort to return the home to its original splendor.
"I want to save this house because of the effect it had on me as an artist," he said. "Some people might say I'm jumping the gun on this, but it will be too late if we want until after all the decisions have been made by people who aren't even connected to the house."
This week, Winter is busy trying to find like-minded people to join the campaign, such former world champion high jumper Debbie Brill, who currently stables her daughter's horse on the property.
"I don't know how badly it's been burned, but if there's a possibility of saving it, I hope that happens," said Brill, who said she has been concerned about the deterioration of the building for several years.
"The house has been badly neglected, and even though it was listed as a heritage house, they were doing nothing to keep it up," Brill said of the home. "The people leasing the stables were really the ones keeping an eye on it, making sure there were no squatters in there or watching if the heat went out of it became flooded.
"But really, it's a question of whether it's intact enough be able to save," she said. "It would cost a lot. Completely rewiring and replumbing the house is an expensive undertaking, but if they did those two things, they could rent it out to students again."
Winters said a public show of support could go a long way towards convincing the GVRD to leaving the shell of the house intact at least until a community fundraising program can be organized.
"It was the most magical place I've lived in in my whole life," said Winters. "I really enjoyed being an artist living so close to the lake, I used to ado a lot of canoeing on the lake, and it was a great place to go unwind. We used to take midnight paddles out to Burnaby Lake because it gave us a feeling of freedom."
This week, Winters is looking for like-minded history buffs interested in joining his campaign to preserve the Aintree manor. At the top of his list of people to contact are the two last known surviving family members of Stanley and Isabel Picken, who built the home at on the banks of the Brunette River as a place to raise their children and operate their Aintree dog kennels.
While his attempts to contact the family have so far been unsuccessful , Winter believes son John Picken is an oyster farmer living somewhere near Powell River, while daughter Mary Picken Healy may be living in the Fraser Valley.
A rally to preserve the home is tentatively set for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 10 at the site, on Cariboo Road, immediately south of the Brunette River crossing. Anyone who cannot attend the rally but who still wants to lend their support to the campaign can call Winters at 604-707-0013.