Former Rupert Mayor Peter Lester knew what he wanted and what he didn’t want.
It’s what made him such a successful mayor for 35 straight years, beginning in 1958, and the recipient of the Order of British Columbia in 1994.
So when Peter Lester said he didn’t want any sort of edifice named after him while he was still living, another former mayor, Herb Pond, thought he and council achieved a rare feat when they were able to get Peter to agree to name the performing arts centre in Prince Rupert the Lester Centre of the Arts.
Because it wasn’t just named after Peter, but his wife and fellow figurehead in the community, Mary Lester.
“I think it was Coun. Paul Kennedy that came up with the original idea,” said Pond in January.
“[Re-naming it] was just something we believed in strongly. He was mayor for 35 years and he got us through all kinds of things, from the building of the airport to the establishment of the ferries, he had a huge impact on this community.”
Mary was a force to be reckoned with in her own right. One of the biggest promoter of the arts in Prince Rupert, Mary was involved on the stage, as well as behind the scenes in almost every production coming through and within the city. She also has strong bloodlines continuing to drive the arts scene on the North Coast, with daughter Teresa Mackereth owning and operating the Dance Academy of Prince Rupert, and granddaughter Crystal Lorette now running the Lester Centre as its general manager.
“It’s just a strong legacy in that family. It came from Mary. Mary was something to behold when she got on that stage,” said Pond.
So when the time came to propose the re-naming to the Lesters, Peter acquiesced.
“We came up with this idea that if we named it the Lester Centre, [Peter] couldn’t say no, because to say no would deny Mary an honour that she truly deserved. I remember going over to their house and Mary was very sick at the time, basically under bed-rest. So we met with Peter and Mary, and Peter kind of acknowledged that we had got one over on him and he would accept the naming,” Pond continued.
But as the days approached and the re-naming ceremony got closer, Peter passed away, as his condition had deteriorated rapidly leading up to his death, despite Mary being the one who was sick longer.
“So in fact, he really got one over on us. It ended up being a posthumous honour for him,” said the former mayor. “Mary was there for the naming and she just came back to life for that one evening – really just vibrant.”
The Lester Centre has become a mainstay of the community since it was built in 1987 and Pond remembers well the performances that his children were involved in, and the amount of attention and potential it brings to Prince Rupert, to have an arts centre as lavish as it is.
“It puts us on the map. It’s a top-notch facility, it’s really well run and it allows us as a community to do some really spectacular things,” Pond added.
“Between [Mary and Peter] I don’t know that there’s a couple that have made any bigger contribution to Prince Rupert over the years.”