Editor's note posted Jan. 25, 2017: Darwin Properties submitted to the District of North Vancouver a development application for this site in December 2016. The development proposal is currently at the preliminary application stage, the earliest stage in the development application process. The district has sent out a notice to residents within a 100 metre radius of the site asking for initial input on the preliminary application. The deadline for submitting input re: 1012-1110 Deep Cove Road is Jan. 31, 2017. A public info session is required at the next stage, the detailed application stage, if the application moves forward.
As news about the sale of the Raven Pub began to circulate in June, some locals wondered if it might be last call at the iconic Deep Cove watering hole that opened in 1979.
But there’ll be no need for its devoted patrons to drown their sorrows.
The pub’s new owners – who happen to be longtime customers and area residents – understand exactly what the local pub and restaurant means to the Cove community as a gathering spot for friends and families.
“We have to preserve this and keep that amenity within the community,” said Oliver Webbe, of Darwin Construction, the development company that purchased the licences for both the Raven Pub and its beer and wine store. “For me it has got some attachment.”
Webbe’s father David is the founder and CEO of Darwin Construction and he and Oliver both have strong ties to the local pub.
When David moved to Deep Cove more than three decades ago he joined the Raven-sponsored Mount Seymour Ravens soccer club. Oliver’s memories of the local establishment go way back too: When he turned 19, he sat down inside the popular bar to order his first beer. “My mom took me down there,” he said.
Now with a young family of his own, Oliver usually goes to the Raven at least once a week for dinner with his wife and kids. Both father and son live within walking distance to the pub.
Peter and Jennifer Crawford have owned the Raven for the past 16 years. When they made the decision to retire and sell the business they called their longtime Cove friends and neighbours, the Webbes. Oliver Webbe said his family didn’t hesitate to make a deal to ensure the pub would remain in local hands.
“(It’s really like) passing the torch from their family to my family,” he said. “It just makes me feel happy to keep that in the community.”
While the Raven is here to stay, it will soon be moving a few doors to the right.
Webbe said the plan is to build a new Raven at the northeast corner of Deep Cove Road and Mount Seymour Parkway, which is the current site of Central Motor Service auto repair business, a parcel of land that is already owned by Darwin Construction. Before any plans are drawn up for the new Raven, Webbe said they will be reaching out to the community for input on what they would like to see in a reimagined Raven.
He said the new pub will include a wrap-around patio and its history as a live music venue will continue only with a better sound system that will keep neighbour noise complaints down and also allow pub patrons who’d rather talk than listen to music the option to do so.
“I want to make sure people keep coming for the next 40 years,” he said.
There are no plans for a name change, however there may be a minor tweak like calling it the Deep Cove Raven, he added.
“(It’s kind of the) entrance to Deep Cove. It’s kind of historical that Raven name and sign,” he said.
The corner site, which extends to the old Raven, doesn’t require rezoning.
Webbe said after permits are completed construction for the new Raven will likely begin in early 2017. The corner development will also include townhomes.
The current Raven, he noted, will remain open during the entire construction phase of the new restaurant so the official last call at the original Raven will only come when the new pub and restaurant is set to open. Webbe noted that they are working with the existing businesses in the block to ensure they are able to stay within the Seymour community.
As for future plans for the block, Darwin plans to develop the area according to the zoning and official community plan, which includes a mixture of commercial and residential to a maximum of three storeys.
Jennifer Crawford will stay on at the Raven until the new pub is opened. Her future plans include taking some university courses, playing more golf and spending time with family and friends. She looks back fondly at her time at the Raven.
“The Raven has been a family business with all five of us working in at one time and another. That family feeling keeps spreading through our staff and through all the families and individuals we serve,” she said in an email. “This has been the most satisfying part of owning the Raven along with being in a great community.”
Crawford said she’s pleased that the business was sold to Darwin “because of their long association with Deep Cove and with the Raven. I know that all we have worked to put in place will continue. And I am really happy to hear that the Raven will not close - it will just move.”
