Larry Fisher Way is the new name of a Surrey street that connects two buildings Lawrence Edward Fisher developed to create the city's Health and Technology District, off 96 Avenue.
Friends, family, politicians and construction-industry colleagues gathered beneath the City Centre 1 and 2 towers Thursday (April 10) to pay tribute to the Lark Group of Companies founder, who died more than two years ago, Feb. 4, 2023, following a fight with cancer. He was 82.
The street-dedication ceremony included a morning of live music, food trucks, balloons and networking on the new Larry Fisher Way, just north of Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke called Fisher "a titan of industry who has indelibly shaped the city of Surrey, and whose influence continues to resonate every day in our city."
Other Lark Group projects in Surrey include Legion Veterans Village in Whalley, North Surrey Sport & Ice Complex and Excellent Ice arenas, Elim Village retirement homes in Fleetwood, Port Kells Industrial Park, Laurel Place Care Centre, the FVHRS Heritage Car Barn in Cloverdale and more.
"The projects are too numerous to list in their entirety," said Locke, who knew Fisher for more than 40 years, starting in 1985 when he helped hire her as executive director of B.C. Liquor Retailers Association.
"The fact is, you can't go very far in Surrey without seeing something that Larry had his hand in," Locke said.
"Larry was one of Surrey's biggest builders and one of Surrey's biggest boosters," she continued. "Larry was always the big thinker in the room…. He contributed so much to our community, not only in these big and wonderful and amazing buildings, but in the hearts and souls of so many of us in Surrey, to charities that he gave to, to just making Surrey better. He made it better for everyone here in our city."
The street-dedication ceremony was planned and co-hosted by Hilaire Kalfon, Fraser Park Realty owner and strata manager of the City Centre buildings, and Anita Huberman, board chair of Western Community College.
In an event invitation, the organizers call Fisher "a distinguished community leader whose unwavering dedication to Surrey and B.C.’s construction industry has played a pivotal role in revitalizing Surrey’s downtown core, supporting local businesses and community organizations, and fostering innovation."
Chris Gardner, president of the 4,500-member Independent Contractors and Businesses Association of B.C., said Fisher was among the earliest founding members and strongest supporters of ICBA.
"This is a very special day for us because ICBA is celebrating its 50th year, and we are where we are — we've grown across British Columbia, we've expanded to Alberta and we're the largest construction association in Canada — because of visionaries like Larry Fisher," Gardner said.
"For us at ICBA, it was in the lead-up to Expo 86 where Larry Fisher stood up and said, as the government was planning to build Expo, and there were a lot of people saying that that site should be closed (unions only), Larry said, 'No, that site should be open. Every contractor, no matter how they're organized, if they have the experience, the skill, the drive, the talent, the people, should have an opportunity to work on this project,' and Larry prevailed. It was a hard fight, but Larry prevailed, and it was that spirit of determination. He was a force of nature."
