Every Place Has a Story

Our Missing Heritage: a railway station, a city hall and a court house: what were we thinking?

the_title()

For Part Six in my sad, but ongoing series of our missing buildings, I’ve selected a former city hall, a railway station and a court house and then taken a look at what we’ve done with their old sites.

Even if you don’t love the architecture—and I do happen to be a fan of anything that’s gothic and grim and wears a turret—you’ve got to admit that they’re interesting buildings, and would have made amazing additions to our current landscape.

…read more

Black History Month: Valerie Jerome

the_title()

Most people have heard of Harry Jerome. His name adorns recreation centres and his statue is in Stanley Park. At one time he was the fastest man alive, setting a total of seven world records. In 1970 he was made an officer of the Order of Canada. Fewer people remember his sister Valerie, yet she is just as amazing.

…read more

The story behind a 1924 Vancouver photograph

the_title()

The story behind this photo of VPD detectives that appeared in the Vancouver Daily World on January 25, 1924

Joe Ricci’s Vancouver:

One of my favourite characters in Sensational Vancouver is Detective Joe Ricci who joined the Vancouver Police Department in 1912. Joe was a kick-arse cop from the old school who didn’t get too hung up on legal niceties such as warrants or evidence, but would take to the doors of opium dens and gambling joints with axes, fists swinging and shooting first, asking questions later.

…read more

Vancouver’s Salmagundi West

the_title()

There’s a female ghost who haunts Salmagundi. She hangs out downstairs and begs the odd customer to look through old photos, find one of her and take it home. Once a customer told owner Anne Banner that a ghost wanted her to take an antique doll out of a birdcage. Anne, who has never experienced the ghost herself, is not one to tempt fate.

…read more

Arthur Erickson’s House and Garden are on the Endangered List

the_title()

Arthur Erickson is one of Canada’s most famous architects, yet his own house and garden ranks #8 on Heritage Vancouver’s top 10 endangered sites for 2014. 

Arthur Erickson’s fingerprints are all over some of Metro Vancouver’s most iconic buildings—the Museum of Anthropology, Simon Fraser University and dozens of residential houses.

Unusual for an architect, Erickson chose not to design his own house, but bought a large corner lot in Point Grey with a 1924 cottage and garage for $11,000 out of which he created the 900-square-foot home where he lived for the next 52 years.

…read more

The Top 10 Most Expensive Houses in BC: nine are in Vancouver

the_title()

If you’re a property owner in Metro Vancouver and looking for relief in this year’s property tax bill, well let’s just say it’s not going to happen. For property owners living in one of the priciest regions of the country—the West Coast real estate market keeps going up—and so does your bill.

The good news is that BC Assessment also released the 500 most expensive properties in the province today, and it gives you a glimpse into how the rich get richer.

…read more

Our Missing Heritage – What should we have kept?

the_title()

Every now and then I run a story under a series I call “Our Missing Heritage – What were we thinking?” It came out of my frustration from researching my books on home histories.  Often I’d hear or read about a great story that happened in a house, or see a picture of an amazing building only to find out that it had turned into a parking lot, a boxy condo tower or a monster house.

…read more

Vancouver’s Missing Theatres

the_title()

It’s hard to imagine that 100 years ago the Hastings Street area had a thriving theatre district, filled with opulent buildings, cafes and people, and known as the “Hastings Great White Way.”

In past blogs I’ve written about the Strand, the Pantages and the Empress–all theatres that once existed in downtown Vancouver, but have long since been turned into parking lots or cheaper, uninteresting buildings.

…read more