If you grew up in Vancouver, there’s a good chance you spent time playing on the vintage fire truck at Stanley Park‘s Ceperley playground.
For the last six weeks, the iconic piece of playground equipment has been absent from the play area next to Second Beach as it underwent a restoration by the Vancouver Park Board.
On Friday, it made its triumphant return with a fresh coat of fire-engine red paint and restored fixtures — much to the delight of children.
“It’s such an iconic piece of Stanley Park, I remember playing on it when I was a kid here in the early 70s,” Vancouver Fire Rescue Services Assistant Chief Dave Meers said.
“Kids just gravitate to it. It’s so tactile. Kids just love to jump on things and climb on things. It’s one of those things that is just perfectly placed in a playground right by the seaside in a beautiful park, easily accessible.”
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In fact, generations of children have grown up climbing on the nearly century-old truck.
The vehicle was built in Toronto in 1928 and was purchased by Vancouver’s fire service for $14,945 — about $250,000 in today’s dollars. Global News could not confirm the year it was purchased.
It served for decades as a working fire engine before retiring from service in 1967 when the fire department sold it to the park board for $1.
“It’s really exciting to have something that’s so iconic in Stanley Park returning, and it’s looking so great all spruced up again,” Park Commissioner Tricia Barker said.
Barker said the restoration job was necessary due to how heavily used the truck is, along with degradation from Vancouver’s famously dam weather.
The truck was last repainted and restored in 2011.
She said the upgrades are expected to carry the truck through for years of future play.
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