LEGO Gulf of Georgia Cannery

The Gulf of Georgia National Historic Site is a culturally-significant site that has changed in function, size, purpose, and ownership since it first opened its doors in 1894. At over 41,000 square feet in size and containing 130 years of history, it can be a challenge for locals and visitors alike to understand the National Historic Site’s size, scope, and legacy.

The Gulf of Georgia Cannery’s LEGO model, built by Richmond LEGO enthusiast Peter Grant, is an expertly crafted miniature that seeks to capture the vastness of this historic building over its multiple decades in a creative and captivating medium. Using over 55,000 individual LEGO pieces, visitors will experience the site’s operations as a salmon canning line, fresh fish depot, and herring reduction facility, in addition to elements of its current life as a Parks Canada National Historic Site. 

Peter Grant, known to many as Richmond’s LEGO Man, specializes in immortalizing historical Richmond landmarks in LEGO format. Peter has recreated over 30 historical buildings in LEGO, including Steveston Tram, Steveston Museum and Post Office, and Minoru Chapel. About the LEGO Cannery model, Grant says:

“While I strive to have my LEGO projects be as recognizable as possible, they aren’t architectural reproductions. I base them on my own photographs and on Google satellite images; but I also try to capture some of the different stories, and, well, the Cannery is filled with so many different stories.

Obviously, I had to incorporate the canning line into the project. But, at the same time, I wanted to include the icehouse and have fish put on ice and sent by truck along Trunk (No. 2) Road to Vancouver to fetch more money. You’ll see there’s even a red herring as a shout out to things to come. I wanted to include a wooden fishing boat unloading its catch to start off the whole process, and so I included a reproduction of a boat my late father-in-law, Yoichi (Jim) Kishi, built to honour him.”

See more of Peter’s work here.