Every Place Has a Story

A brief history of Vancouver’s City Halls

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Vancouver City Hall designed by Fred Townley
Vancouver City Hall in 1945 CVA City P45

From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History

Before Vancouver settled on its current City Hall on West 12th, it had been housed in a number of really interesting buildings.

The Vancouver Police Department outside City Hall in 1886 VPL #1090
The Vancouver Police Department outside City Hall in 1886 VPL #1090

The first council started out in a tent shortly after the Great Fire wiped out most of the city in 1886. The tent was on the CPR pier at the foot of Main Street. Chief Constable John Stewart is pictured second from left.

149-151 Powell Street, finished in October 1886

Three months later, the Sentell Brothers were contracted to build the first city hall at 149-151 Powell Street–a two-storey wooden structure. It took just a month to build and came in at under $1,300. But the city couldn’t afford the tab, and the Sentell Brothers took the unusual step of shutting them out until they came up with the cash.

Powell and Columbia StreetsOppenheimer Bros Wholesale Grocers building 1898

The building quickly became too small for the growing city, and when David Oppenheimer was elected mayor in 1888, City Hall into his warehouse on Powell and Columbia.  The building is remarkably still there, in a sketchy part of Gastown, rehabilitated and now owned by rock star Bryan Adams.

Old Market Hall, Main Street
Old Market Hall, Main Street

Oppenheimer was replaced by Frederick Cope as Mayor in 1892 and City Hall moved to the old Market Hall on Main Street (Westminster Avenue until 1910) in 1898 just south of the Carnegie Library at East Hastings and remained there for the next three decades. The building with its wonderful turrets was demolished in 1958.

Holden Block. Leonard Frank photo, 1936 CVA BuP56
Holden Block. Leonard Frank photo, 1936 CVA BuP56

In 1929 City Hall moved to the Holden Block at 16 East Hastings designed in 1911 by William T. Whiteway—the same architect who designed the Sun Tower and Kathryn Maynard’s Alexander Street brothel.

Vancouver City Hall from Yukon, 1937, Leonard Frank photo CVA City P21
Vancouver City Hall from Yukon, 1937, Leonard Frank photo CVA City P21

Since 1937 our art deco City Hall designed by Fred Townley has stayed at its current location on West 12th. You can thank (or blame) Mayor Gerry McGeer for the look and the location, the first time a major Canadian city had built its city hall outside of the city.

© All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all blog content copyright Eve Lazarus

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16 comments on “A brief history of Vancouver’s City Halls”

Hi there. Love your site and all the interesting historical details. Love it! Came across this image today in the City of Vancouver Archives that shows City Hall in this building: http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/index.php/city-hall-on-powell-street
It is also listed on the 1912 Goad’s Insurance Map as “Old City Hall” with an address of 149-151 Powell, just west of Main. I’m thinking maybe the Warehouse story might either be incorrect OR there is another chapter in the movements of the City Hall around our fair city. What do you think?

I am wondering why the story of the first city hall built following the fire is not mentioned here? It was built in a short time and while the Sentell Brothers were able to build it quickly, the city of Vancouver did not have the balance of $1250 to pay for their new building. So, the brothers kept the keys, locking the city of Vancouver out of their new City Hall until the balance was paid. It was finally paid and the brothers gladly handed over the keys. This city hall served until the Main Street location was opened. These brothers were responsible for building several homes in the Vancouver area, some of which are still standing today.
By the way, I have a sketch of that Powell Street building if you would like to see it.
Thank you for this spot to send messages.
Sincerely,
Georgie Brown, Kelowna BC – formerly of Vancouver

[…] I’m writing a book about John F.C.B. Vance, the first forensic scientist in Vancouver, and this week I wrote about his first day of work as the new City Analyst. My book is non-fiction, but sometimes you need some creative license. My challenge was to get to get Vance from his house in Yaletown to Market Hall, a lovely long-gone gothic building on Westminster (Main Street) which doubled as City Hall.  […]

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