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Vancouver Sikh community holds special service for Arthur Erickson

May 26th, 2009 · No Comments

When Arthur Erickson died last week, many people noted the buildings he has done in Vancouver that have contributed to this city’s identity. One building that no one, including me, included on the list was the Ross Street temple in southeast Vancouver. In fact, I didn’t even know that this temple that has such a presence here — we’ve all driven by it on Southeast Marine — was designed by Arthur.

In fact, it was, back in 1970 when the temple moved from West Second. Now, the temple’s Khalsa Diwan Society is organizing a special service this Sunday to commemorate the man they say made a significant contribution to the Sikh diaspora.

The service, which will include speakers from Arthur’s family and affiliated socities, will start at 10:30 this Sunday at the temple.

(For Arthur fans, I should note that CBC’s North by Northwest replayed an old interview with Arthur on its program last Saturday and has posted the interview to its website — it was so lovely to hear his voice while I was driving, sounding so Arthur-like at his best, lively and feisty and philosophical and impatient with the conventional.)

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