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Photo: Richmond's first high-rises spark many memories

The Park Towers in 1971 are understood to be Richmond's first high-rises
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The Park Towers in 1971 are understood to be Richmond's first high-rises

An archive photo of what is understood to be Richmond’s first high rise buildings has caused quite a stir on social media.

The shot was taken around 1971, when the first two towers of the Park Towers development was nearing completion on Minoru Boulevard, opposite to what is now the west entrance to Richmond Centre shopping mall.

It’s a far cry from the skyline that dominates the centre of Richmond these days.

The post on Facebook community group “You grew up in Richmond, BC if you remember...” sparked dozens of memories among Richmondites past and present.

Comments such as “You could see the towers down river from New Westminster” and “Used to go to the roof as kids in elementary school with the little plastic army guys that had a parachute and throw them off the roof,” were posted.

Other, slightly more daredevil, memories included “When they were building them, we used to go up the stairwell right to the roof and lay down and look over the edge,” along with “Ken McKee lived in there and scaled the outside of building drunk to get into his suite lol.”