Geoff Pearce – Whistler Museum and Archives Society

Early Days at Municipal HallEarly Days at Municipal Hall

June 25, 2024 Whistler Museum 4 Comments

When the Resort Municipality of Whistler was formed in 1975, the organization was small enough that the for the first couple of years employees numbered in the single digits. According to Kris Shoup, when she was hired in 1977 as the secretary of the building inspector (Jim Murray, employee number one), she thinks she became the RMOW’s fourth employee.

Shoup arrived in Whistler for the summer in 1976 and never left. There were just over 500 residents in the valley at the time and, as Shoup put it, she “absolutely adored it” and “thought it was great.” A vet technician, she ran the vet clinic located in Alpine Meadows, though there was no vet living in Whistler full-time. The vet would come to Whistler once a week and do all the surgeries and appointments booked by Shoup, who did as much as she was able for the rest of the week. She got to know a lot of the residents working at the clinic as “everyone had a dog” and, in the case of an emergency such as a dog hit by a car, Shoup would try to stabilize the animal as much as possible so they could be driven to Squamish.

Whistler Council in its first formal portrait. (l to r) Alderman Bill Peterson, Alderman David O’Keefe, Administrator Geoff Pearce, Mayor Mark Angus, Municipal Clerk Kris Shoup Robinson, Alderman Bernie Hauschka and Alderman Terry Rodgers. Whistler Question Collection, 1983

In 1977, during a particularly bad winter for skiing, Shoup was hired as Jim Murray’s secretary, though she continued to work at the clinic for another year or two as well. About six months later, she became deputy clerk and then, when Geoff Pearce was promoted from municipal clerk to administrator, was told by Carleton, “Congratulations, you’re the new clerk.” Shoup held the position of municipal clerk until the mid-1980s.

During her tenure with the RMOW, Shoup worked out of a variety of locations, including the lunchroom of the original Myrtle Philip School, trailers, the “little green building” built using a government grant, and, finally, the current Municipal Hall after the Keg building was relocated.

Before the Keg could move the old municipal hall building had to be moved off the site. Whistler Question Collection, 1981

The Keg building was relocated from its original site on Alta Lake to its Village location in 1981. It would take three years, however, before municipal staff and council were able to move in and in the interim, Shoup and others worked out of the previous Town Hall, which had been moved down to Function Junction. During this period, Shoup recalled being able to run up to Loggers Lake at lunchtime for her daily swim. After the move to the Village, she continued her lunchtime swims but now in Lost Lake.

Municipal Clerk Kris Shoup Robinson packs it in Friday for the big move to bigger and better facilities at the new municipal hall in Whistler Village. Staff have been waiting in anticipation for the move. Whistler Question Collection, 1984

Whistler saw a lot of change from 1977 to the mid-1980s. According to Shoup, one of the most exciting things to happen while working at the RMOW was the day when Pearce, who was still the municipal clerk at the time, came out of a meeting and told her, “Hang on to your hat, we’re gonna build a town.” She also worked with Trevor Roote organizing public access along with the sewer system in order to build the Valley Trail, witnessed the planning and construction of the training wall along Fitzsimmons Creek (for flood prevention), and saw first-hand Mayor Pat Carleton’s excitement when they found out that a Delta Hotel would be built in the Whistler Village, Whistler’s first big branded hotel.

RMOW Employee #2: Geoff PearceRMOW Employee #2: Geoff Pearce

June 18, 2024 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

When the first municipal council was sworn into office on September 6, 1975, the four councillors (Garry Watson, John Hetherington, Bob Bishop and Al Raine) and Mayor Pat Carleton were faced with the daunting task of building a resort in the ski area. As the first council of the Resort Municipality of Whistler, however, they first had to hire some municipal employees. Over the past few years, the museum has sat down with two of the earliest employees of the RMOW, Geoff Pearce and Kris Shoup, and heard about their experiences.

According to both Pearce and Shoup, the first position to be filled at the RMOW was that of building inspector. Jim Murray, who had previously been an inspector for the Squamish Lillooet Regional District, was the first hire of the new council. He was soon followed by Pearce, who began as municipal clerk.

The RMOW’s first council: Bob Bishop, Al Raine, Geoff Pearce (municipal clerk), Mayor Pat Carleton, John Hetherington and Garry Watson. Carleton Collection

Pearce moved to Whistler in February 1976, though he had already been called in to take minutes at a zoning bylaw meeting in December 1975 to get a feeling for Whistler. He had heard about the job from his boss in Squamish, where he was working as the municipal clerk, who told him that he should apply. Upon his arrival in Whistler, he found that it was pretty bare from logging but looked like it had “great potential.”

The workplace of the RMOW moved around quite a bit in the first few years. That first meeting Pearce attended took place at the gondola base in either L’Apres or the cafeteria and he remembered attending council meetings in Carleton’s garage and either the Mount Whistler Lodge or the Highland Lodge. Offices were set up in a trailer next to the liquor store (also located in a trailer at the time) and for a while RMOW staff worked out of the lunchroom of the first Myrtle Philip School, not far from the current location of Municipal Hall. This meant that municipal files and records also had to find temporary homes, such as at the home of Betty Jarvis, who was hired as the first municipal secretary by Pearce.

Staff and council meet in a somewhat makeshift conference room – Pearce can be seen above the shoulder of Garry Watson. George Benjamin Collection

For his first few months as municipal clerk, Pearce also functioned as the treasurer and collector of taxes. Outside of the RMOW, he worked as the approving officer for the area and was a volunteer firefighter as well. In 1980, Pearce was promoted to administrator, a position he held until 1985.

From bringing together private water systems to building a sewer system to planning and constructing the Town Centre, Pearce remembered that staff and council “worked really hard,” including working through the winter holidays of 1978/79. The development proposals for Phase 1 of the Town Centre were due December 22, 1978 and council, Sutcliffe, Moodie & Griggs (the project management firm leading the Town Centre project), and staff spent the next few weeks evaluating the proposals in order to announce the winners in early January 1979.

That’s not quite Geoff Pearce behind his nameplate reading Clerk/Treasurer – the Myrtle Philip School kindergarten class came for a visit in 1978. Whistler Question Collection, 1978

According to Peace, when he began working for the RMOW in 1976 the population of Whistler was around 530 people, which meant that you got to know most people quite well, especially those you worked with. He was invited to Carleton’s house for coffee with Pat and his wife Kay and, as part of his job was to personally deliver the council envelopes on Friday night to the councillors’ homes, he would often leave either John Hetherington or Franz Carpay (elected to Whistler’s second council) to last so he could sit down and have a beer. In between committee meetings and council meetings, the group would go out for dinner together, rotating through the various restaurants in the area.

Pearce left Whistler for Smithers in 1985, though he returned for a year before moving to Victoria. As recently as 2019, however, he still received calls looking for background knowledge of the RMOW’s early years. Next week, we’ll take a look at some of the experiences of Kris Shoup, the fourth employee of the RMOW.

Whistler’s First MayorWhistler’s First Mayor

October 29, 2019 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Pat Carleton became Whistler’s first mayor in 1975 and served four terms until 1982. Born in Langley, BC in 1920, Carleton was not a career politician. He played trombone as a band member of the Royal Air Force auxiliaries in World War II and then made a career as a coffee salesman for 25 years.

Kay and Pat enjoy a toast from the goblets given to them at a surprise party on April 3 to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Whistler Question Collection, 1981.

In 1956, Carleton’s neighbour Ted Harris told him about Alta Lake. Harris and Carleton went on a weekend fishing trip and stayed at Jordan’s Lodge. Carleton and his wife Kay later built a cabin along Alpha Lake and in 1958 and, after he retired in 1971, moved to their cabin to live full time.

Kay recalled their first winter at the cabin as a record snowfall. They thought if they left at any point they wouldn’t be able to get back to Alta Lake until spring, so they stayed full time with no running water and wood heat, which Kay did not particularly enjoy.

A sunny summer day and lush new landscaping – Mayor Pat Carleton and his wife Kay take advantage of Whistler at its finest to enjoy a stroll through Town Centre. Whistler Question Collection, 1981.

Being retired left Pat Carleton with a lot of free time. He became very active with the Chamber of Commerce, the Rate Payers Association, and the Technical Planning Committee, as well as participating in community life. Carleton was also active in advocating for a local government and, when the Resort Municipality of Whistler Act was passed in 1975, he was one of two residents to run for mayor.

Paul Burrows, who later founded the Whistler Question with his wife Jane, ran against Carleton for mayor but lost with 103 votes to Carleton’s 185. Whistler’s first council was also elected at this time, which included Garry Watson, John Hetherington and Bob Bishop. Al Raine was appointed to council by the provincial government. Burrows described Carleton as very conservative, fair and well-liked. The area previously known as Alta Lake became officially called Whistler at Carleton’s inauguration.

Pat Carleton, ex-mayor of Whistler, came out of the closet Sunday to join aldermanic candidates Paul Burrows and Nancy Wilhelm-Morden in celebrating the official opening of Whistler’s new municipal hall. Whistler Question Collection, 1984.

In the early stages the council had nowhere to meet and the Carletons offered up their home for some of their meetings. According to Hetherington, Carleton was instrumental in dealing with the provincial and federal governments to tackle obstacles that faced the development of the resort, such as the lack of a sewer system.

The first council looked to other ski areas in North America to learn from how they had developed. Carleton wasn’t a skier, but this allowed him to see different needs for the village that others might have overlooked.

Carleton ran for mayor again in 1978 and 1980, unopposed both times. During his years in office he can be credited with the accomplishments of upgrading the telephone system, a local weather office, the post office, and the train station. Over the years Carleton spent a lot of time in Victoria keeping ministers informed about what was happening at Whistler. He worked seven days a week and even remembered holding a council meeting over radio phone during one of his trips to Victoria.

Whistler’s first council. Left to Right: Bob Bishop, Al Raine, Geoff Pearce (municipal clerk & treasurer), Pat Carleton, John Hetherington, Garry Watson

The Carleton Lodge was named after Pat Carleton by a developer from Vancouver during the construction of Whistler Village and a plaque was made in tribute to Carleton that was placed in the hotel’s lobby.

Carleton retired from public office in 1982 and spent nine more years in Whistler before moving to Chilliwack with Kay. In 1985 he was awarded the Freedom of the Resort Municipality of Whistler, one of only eight people to have been given the honour.

Pat Carleton passed away in 2004 at the age of 84, but will always be remembered for his legacy in Whistler.