When George W. Weeks - the builder of Weeks House arrived in the newly incorporated City of Vancouver to open it's first Hudson's Bay Company Store, the city had just 1,000 inhabitants. The year was 1886. Weeks later told a newspaper reporter that he could see the place had a wonderful future.
Weeks lived at Weeks House with his wife, Hannah, their two daughters, Hilda and Rhoda, and two sons, Campbell and Hubert. George Weeks lived in the house until his death in 1948. After George's death, the Weeks family continued living in the house. An unmarried daughter, Hilda, remained there until the late 1950s, when she sold it to the McClintock family. The Parks Board purchased the house in the mid-1960s, and Bernard Kelly stayed on as caretaker until 1994.
The exterior of the house was refurbished by the Iredale Partnership in 1990 at a cost of $120,000. In 1994, the house was leased to The Vancouver Friends For Life Society for $1 a year for 10 years, with a provisio that the necessary funds would be raised to refurbish the inside.
On December 1, 1995, the beautiful renovated home was renamed The Diamond Centre For Living. in honour of the Diamond family of Vancouver, recognizing their important role as philanthropists and leaders in renovating the wellness centre.
Today, the Diamond Centre For Living houses Friends For Life, a wellness centre providing holistic health therapies to people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Offering a warm, supportive "home-like" environment, the house has provided a safe-haven for the nearly two decades for over 3000 individuals living with life-threatening illnesses.
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"The Diamond Centre For Living" formerly the Weeks House [Click on image for larger view] |
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