L. Row Houses

Category: Sites from the 'Labour, Work and Working People' booklet

The Croatian Hall was located in #5A of the row houses. One of the parades of protesters involved in the 1938 sit-in at the post office began their march at this location ( see site #2 ). Mary Trocell Velijacic, the daughter of Croatian immigrants, proudly recalled her childhood in the multi-ethnic and community-minded neighbourhood for local historians Daphne Marlatt and Carole Itter in 1979: “ If anyone was sick, they thought nothing of coming over and we thought nothing of going right into the house and getting to work... We were just like one family.” Myer Freedman also shared his memories of the neighbourhood: “...people had trust and there was honesty all around us. We were poor as hell but we enjoyed life.”

In 1968, the city planned to bulldoze this neighbourhood for the valuable land situated close to the waterfront and downtown. Residents of the community, mostly first and second generation immigrants, formed the Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants’ Association and prevented the razing of their homes. It was the first Canadian citizen’s committee to participate as equal partners with three of government in developing a renewal plan for their community. The Strathcona Rehabilitation Project stopped the bulldozers but the “beautification” of the quaint neighbourhood drew the attention of real estate developers and a new class of residents. Many working class and low income residents were soon evicted to make way for the urban gentry.