Fantasy Gardens, also known as Fantasy Garden World, was a former amusement park in Richmond, British Columbia that was located at the corner of Steveston Highway and No. 5 Road. The park was called Fantasy Gardens because it was surrounded by a series of stone buildings that were designed to resemble structures built during the Middle Ages. The buildings had been used as a backdrop in numerous music videos, television productions, and movies (it stood in for Halloweentown in Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge).
Bill Vander Zalm 1984-1990 Tan Yu/Asiaworld Internationale Group 1990-2006 Townline Homes 2007-present
Behind the stone buildings were the Biblical Gardens. These gardens were filled with numerous religious icons, including a hedge that had been carved into the shape of a Bible.
Fantasy Gardens was home to a massive plant store in the Art Knapp's chain, owned by Frank Van Hest (1932-2005) in 1965. Bill Vander Zalm's son Wim owned several other stores in the Art Knapp's chain. Many people visited the store to get a glimpse of its turtle-filled pond. This plant store closed its location at Fantasy Gardens, moving to a vacant nursery one mile west along Alderbridge Way and Minoru Boulevard. The Art Knapp's Nursery stores were founded by Arthur William Knapp, a longtime resident of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
As amusement parkedit
During the 1970s and early 1990s, there was a small-scale amusement park at Fantasy Gardens. The biggest attraction was a miniature railroad that visitors could ride throughout the park and the gardens. When the fair closed down, most of the miniature railroad tracks were ripped up. Before being closed, this miniature railroad was filmed and it appeared in The X-Files episode "The Calusari."
In 1984, the gardens were bought by Bill Vander Zalm, who established the Christian theme of much of the park. Then a provincial MLA, Vander Zalm went on to be Premier of British Columbia. His later sale of the park led to charges of conflict of interest, which in turn led to his resignation in 1991 and the defeat of the Social Credit government.[1]
Decline, closure and residential re-developmentedit
Vander Zalm sold the property in the early 1990s to Chinese-born Filipino-Taiwanese businessman Tan Yu for $16 million, whose AsiaWorld then sold it to local developer firm Townline in 2007[2] that redeveloped into retail property named The Gardens.
On 7 September 2010, Fantasy Gardens was torn down, but the Dutch Castle, now a community landmark, was saved. The castle is a replica of Coevorden Castle, possibly the ancestral home of Captain George Vancouver in the Netherlands. The castle was donated to the people of Vancouver by the city of Coevorden for Expo 86.[3] The castle was used as sales centre for the Gardens, a planned residential development. The southern portion is now a condo complex with a Loblaws supermarket, but the former amusement park will become a 12 acres public park for the further residential buildings.[4][5] The former Dutch/Coevorden Castle will become a City of Richmond-owned day care centre.[6]
^Ward, Doug (March 11, 2008). . Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
^. Vancouver Sun. Mar 11, 2008. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
^van den Hemel, Martin (Jan 19, 2011). . Richmond Review. Archived from the original on 12 May 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
^. Archived from the original on 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
^. Archived from the original on 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
^(PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-01-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fantasy Gardens.
Chronology: Fantasy Gardens and Bill Vander Zalm, Vancouver Sun Sept 1991
Fantasy Gardens/Fantasy Gardens World, Coaster Enthusiasts of Canada: Closed Canadian Parks
February 16, 2024
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For the Disney attraction see Fantasy Gardens Disney attraction This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Fantasy Gardens news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Fantasy Gardens also known as Fantasy Garden World was a former amusement park in Richmond British Columbia that was located at the corner of Steveston Highway and No 5 Road The park was called Fantasy Gardens because it was surrounded by a series of stone buildings that were designed to resemble structures built during the Middle Ages The buildings had been used as a backdrop in numerous music videos television productions and movies it stood in for Halloweentown in Halloweentown II Kalabar s Revenge Fantasy GardensA panorama of Fantasy Gardens LocationRichmond British ColumbiaCoordinates49 08 07 N 123 5 25 W 49 13528 N 123 09028 W 49 13528 123 09028Opened1970sClosed2010OwnerBill Vander Zalm 1984 1990 Tan Yu Asiaworld Internationale Group 1990 2006 Townline Homes 2007 presentBehind the stone buildings were the Biblical Gardens These gardens were filled with numerous religious icons including a hedge that had been carved into the shape of a Bible Contents 1 History 1 1 As garden centre 1 2 As amusement park 1 3 Decline closure and residential re development 2 Filming on site 3 Gallery 4 References 5 External linksHistory editAs garden centre edit Fantasy Gardens was home to a massive plant store in the Art Knapp s chain owned by Frank Van Hest 1932 2005 in 1965 Bill Vander Zalm s son Wim owned several other stores in the Art Knapp s chain Many people visited the store to get a glimpse of its turtle filled pond This plant store closed its location at Fantasy Gardens moving to a vacant nursery one mile west along Alderbridge Way and Minoru Boulevard The Art Knapp s Nursery stores were founded by Arthur William Knapp a longtime resident of Victoria British Columbia Canada As amusement park edit During the 1970s and early 1990s there was a small scale amusement park at Fantasy Gardens The biggest attraction was a miniature railroad that visitors could ride throughout the park and the gardens When the fair closed down most of the miniature railroad tracks were ripped up Before being closed this miniature railroad was filmed and it appeared in The X Files episode The Calusari In 1984 the gardens were bought by Bill Vander Zalm who established the Christian theme of much of the park Then a provincial MLA Vander Zalm went on to be Premier of British Columbia His later sale of the park led to charges of conflict of interest which in turn led to his resignation in 1991 and the defeat of the Social Credit government 1 Decline closure and residential re development edit Vander Zalm sold the property in the early 1990s to Chinese born Filipino Taiwanese businessman Tan Yu for 16 million whose AsiaWorld then sold it to local developer firm Townline in 2007 2 that redeveloped into retail property named The Gardens On 7 September 2010 Fantasy Gardens was torn down but the Dutch Castle now a community landmark was saved The castle is a replica of Coevorden Castle possibly the ancestral home of Captain George Vancouver in the Netherlands The castle was donated to the people of Vancouver by the city of Coevorden for Expo 86 3 The castle was used as sales centre for the Gardens a planned residential development The southern portion is now a condo complex with a Loblaws supermarket but the former amusement park will become a 12 acres public park for the further residential buildings 4 5 The former Dutch Coevorden Castle will become a City of Richmond owned day care centre 6 Filming on site editThe site was also used as the primary set of the Revisions episode of the TV series Stargate SG 1 the Irresponsible episode of Stargate Atlantis the Monster Movie episode of Supernatural and in the episodes Shadows and Blackmail episodes from Highlander The Series It was also featured in the Sliders episode Into The Mystic the Psych episode Christmas Joy and the movie I ll Be Home for Christmas as well as The Boy Who Cried Werewolf Gallery edit nbsp The windmill entrance nbsp Another angle of the windmill nbsp The drawbridge entrance nbsp The plant store at Fantasy GardensReferences edit Ward Doug March 11 2008 Fantasy Gardens property sold Vancouver Sun Archived from the original on July 24 2011 Retrieved 2009 02 06 Fantasy Gardens property sold Vancouver Sun Mar 11 2008 Archived from the original on 22 June 2015 Retrieved 19 March 2015 van den Hemel Martin Jan 19 2011 Coevorden Castle to stay in Richmond Richmond Review Archived from the original on 12 May 2011 Retrieved 19 March 2015 Location the Gardens Archived from the original on 2016 01 24 Retrieved 2016 01 04 12 Acre Park the Gardens Archived from the original on 2016 01 24 Retrieved 2016 01 04 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2016 03 04 Retrieved 2016 01 04 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fantasy Gardens Chronology Fantasy Gardens and Bill Vander Zalm Vancouver Sun Sept 1991 Fantasy Gardens Fantasy Gardens World Coaster Enthusiasts of Canada Closed Canadian Parks Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fantasy Gardens amp oldid 1187007169, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
