Tomorrow evening (Friday, May 31) we'll be opening a new temporary exhibit at the Whistler Museum featuring the various ways people have found a place to call home in the valley (doors open at 6:30 p.m. and admission is free so be sure to drop by!).
While putting together the exhibit, we've spent quite a bit of time thinking about housing and development and what has and hasn't changed. I recently came across an article in the Squamish Citizen that featured the beginning of a building that has changed while, in some ways, remaining the same: McKeever's General Store.
On July 22, 1986 Sue Cote, a reporter for the Squamish Citizen, was invited to a groundbreaking ceremony in Alpine Meadows by Chuck Johnstone, the owner of the property at the corner of Alpine Way and Highway 99. Attended by MLA John Reynolds, Alderman Paul Burrows, Michael and Mark Sadler of Sadler Brothers Building Ltd. and Harry McKeever, the actual breaking of the ground was done by Art Den Duyf and his grader (no spades were needed).
With approval from the neighbourhood and the RMOW, Johnstone planned to develop a convenience store and laundromat on the property. The store would be owned and operated by McKeever and his sister Linda, who committed to leasing the space.
After early reports of opposition to the store were published in the Whistler Question in October 1985, Alpine Meadows residents Sonya McCarthy and Margaret Kogler conducted a petition that showed overwhelming support for the idea. By the end of 1986, the idea had become reality and residents now had access to McKeever's General Store and Dirty Harry's Laundromat.
McKeever's was a well-known name in the valley well before the opening of this store. Harry McKeever first came to Alta Lake on holiday in 1957. In 1960, his family bought property and built a cabin in Alta Vista. Not too long after that, he moved up permanently and when Garibaldi Lifts began operating in 1965-66, McKeever became one of the company's first lifties. Working mainly in the gondola barn in the valley, McKeever became valley supervisor and stayed with Garibaldi Lifts until 1975. According to a 1993 article by Bob Colebrook in the Whistler Answer, "McKeever could give seminars to today's lifties on courtesy and friendliness, although he might have a hard time imparting his sincerity."
Lifts were not McKeever's only occupation; he ran a successful vending machine business between 1970 and 1990, supplying the valley's game, pop and cigarette machines, and became known to some as Whistler's "slot machine mogul." During his time in Whistler, McKeever was also an early member of the Chamber of Commerce, on the Board of Directors of the Whistler TV Society, a member of the Whistler Rotary Club and the sponsor of Dirty Harry's hockey team.
When McKeever's General Store opened in 1986, it carried groceries, hardware, auto supplies and video rentals while the laundromat provided a welcome service to residents. Shortly before they opened, Linda McKeever stated, "We want to make the store a focal point for the neighbourhood," a goal they certainly achieved. McKeever's provided a convenient location to pick up eggs or butter (especially if you already happened to checking your mailbox) and for the children of the neighbourhood, it was the closest place to buy Popsicles in the summer.
When discussing the store with Colebrook in the early 1990s, Harry McKeever told him: "It's excellent, it's the first easy job I've had. As the staff learns more and more, my work gets less and less. It's a great way to keep in touch with the people. Also, by having my name on the store I get a lot of people from twenty-five or thirty years ago coming in because they saw my name."
The store has evolved since McKeever left the valley. The laundromat (and the linoleum flooring) is gone, replaced by Alpine Cafe and the store is now named Alpine Meadows Market. The McKeever name, however, will always be associated with the address: 8104 McKeevers Place.
