Missing Heritage

This is an ongoing series that asks people who love history and heritage to tell us their favourite existing building and the one that never should have been torn down. Bill Allman is a “recovering lawyer” and instructor of Entertainment Law at UBC. Bill has been a theatre manager (the Vogue), president of Theatre Under the… Continue reading Heritage Streeters with Bill Allman, Kristin Hardie and Pamela Post

Our second Hotel Vancouver opened its doors in 1916 and was the most elegant and ornate building that we have destroyed. From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History Built in 1916 and pulled down just 33 years later to make way for a parking lot, the second Hotel Vancouver was  a replacement for… Continue reading Our Second Hotel Vancouver (1916-1949)

  From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History Did you know that a commuter train used to run right through downtown Vancouver? I found out about it when I was over at Tom Carter’s studio checking out one of his amazing paintings. There it was, a train chugging across Hastings Street. The train… Continue reading The train that ran down Hastings Street

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… Continue reading May 1, 1907: A Trip Across Vancouver

The Canadian National Steamship terminal was a funky Spanish Colonial-style building that sat on the pier at the foot of Main Street from 1931 to 1983. From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History Foot of Main Street Before CRAB Park was created in 1987, there was a funky Spanish Colonial-style building that sat… Continue reading The Canadian National Terminal on Main Street

Just before you hit the bike only section of Point Grey Road at Alma you may have noticed that the corner lot is missing a lovely old heritage house. The lot sold for $4 million last year, and of course was advertised with a demolition permit and plan for a “brand new 2,800 sq.ft. house on… Continue reading Cube House

Heritage Vancouver hosted its 16th annual bus tour today, taking people to the buildings, streets and landscapes that the Society believes have the most perilous survival rate. And, it’s not just the mansions—but also schools, churches, streets, and areas—all the things that make a community rich. Not all the buildings are that old either. There’s… Continue reading Heritage Vancouver’s Top 10 Most Endangered Heritage Resources of 2016

Love this photo taken in 1921 from Howe Street looking down West Hastings. The big building closest to the photographer is the Metropolitan at 837 West Hastings. It was built in 1912 to house the Metropolitan Club which then became the Terminal City Club and the building lasted until 1998. It was replaced with a… Continue reading Our Missing Heritage: The original Vancouver Club and the Metropolitan Building

This is part four in an occasional series that asks people who work in and around heritage to tell us their favourite buildings and the one that we should never have destroyed. Anne Banner is the proprietress of Salmagundi, an antiques, oddities and novelties shop located in the J.W.Horne Block.  My favourite existing building in… Continue reading Heritage Streeters with Anne Banner, Tom Carter, Kerry Gold and Anthony Norfolk

For a number of years Caroline Adderson wrote outraged letters to City Council about the large scale destruction of heritage houses in her Vancouver neighbourhood. When her letters went unanswered, Caroline sent pictures—she still didn’t get a response. In January 2013, the award-winning author took her fight to social media and started posting pictures of… Continue reading Vancouver Vanishes with Caroline Adderson

Last Saturday I time-travelled to Hogan’s Alley and landed smack in 1948. Geographically, I wasn’t really that far away. I was standing inside a large box in Vancouver’s Woodward’s building using my body as a joy-stick to move through the streets of an area that’s been buried under the Georgia Viaduct since 1972. The National… Continue reading Hidden Pasts, Digital Futures: Vancouver Circa1948

Continuing on with a series I started earlier this year, I’ve asked a few friends to tell me their favourite Vancouver building and the one they miss the most. Michael Kluckner      Michael is the author of a dozen books. His most recent is Toshiko, a graphic novel set in BC in 1944. He… Continue reading Heritage Streeters with Michael Kluckner, Jess Quan, Lani Russwurm and Lisa Anne Smith

The much lamented—and never should have come down–second Hotel Vancouver should have the number one spot on any much missed heritage building list, but I’d argue that the Devonshire should be a close second. When it comes to hotels, we’ve pulled down a lot of them. Here’s my Top 7 list of downtown hotels missing from… Continue reading Our Missing Hotel Heritage: What were we thinking?

For more stories like this one see Vancouver Exposed: Searching for this city’s hidden history I was trekking around the West End with artist and historian Tom Carter on Tuesday. I found some pictures of gorgeous old West End houses at the archives and I wanted to see what replaced them. Tom had some aerial… Continue reading Our missing West End residential heritage: What were we thinking?

In February heritage men told us their favourite building and the one building we should have saved. To keep the world in balance, I’ve asked the same question of women working in and with heritage—our answers may surprise you. Caroline Adderson is an award-winning Vancouver author  and the person behind Vancouver Vanishes. Favourite Vancouver building?… Continue reading Heritage Streeters with Caroline Adderson, Heather Gordon, and Eve Lazarus

Back in September 2013 I blogged about a Fred Hollingsworth designed house in North Vancouver that was sold, torn down and soon after flipped for land value that was more than the original house. Chris left a comment asking me if I could find a photo of another North Shore landmark, a futuristic-looking house that… Continue reading The Switzer House of West Vancouver (1960-1971)

One of the things I loved most about being a contributor to Vancouver Confidential was working with reporters, bloggers, artists, tour guides, actors, musicians and academics that cut across both decades and demographics. The experience made me realize what a truly diverse group we have working in the local history and heritage space. So just… Continue reading Heritage Streeters (with John Atkin, Aaron Chapman, Jeremy Hood and Will Woods)

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

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… Continue reading Our Missing Heritage – What should we have kept?

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… Continue reading Vancouver’s Missing Theatres