There’s certainly no shortage of new builds happening in the City of North Vancouver these days. So far, the undeveloped chunk of city-owned land at the corner of Chesterfield and West 3rd Street has escaped attention. And that’s interesting because the land which occupies 10 city-sized lots, stretches for a full city block north to West 4th Street and half-way from Chesterfield to Mahon. To put this in perspective, it’s not that far off the size of a Canadian football field.
The site has been home to the Presentation House Theatre (PHT) for over fifty years as well as the Anne MacDonald building and a decent-sized parking lot.
The buildings look to be in rough shape and rather than turn the large grassy slope into gardens or a park, it is largely occupied by dog walkers.
Both the PHT and the Anne MacDonald building are listed on the City’s heritage register, but neither have legal protection. And, while I usually come down hard on saving heritage, the main building has been added to and remuddled so much over the decades, what’s left of its historic significance is a large rambling mess.
The current PHT building was the city’s first school from 1902 to 1915. It was then repurposed into a temporary City Hall and stayed in that location for the next 60 years. In 1975, PHT moved into the space, and for many years, shared the building with North Vancouver Museum and the now Polygon Gallery which have both since moved onto bigger and beautiful new spaces just a few blocks away.
So, what are the plans for the land?
My calls to North Vancouver City last week were ignored, but with a council occupied with the October election, there appears to be no immediate plans to either love the property or list it.
In fact, the last report I can find is from 2010 which looked at demolition versus rehabilitation. “In the past the city has undertaken only minimum maintenance to satisfy its tenants. This anticipated a ‘big move’ by the city either to demolish or significantly rehabilitate it.” The site was found to be “undeveloped,” “zoned for cultural use,” and “conducive to commercial or residential development.” While the architects of the 16-year-old report note that the building required “major renovation,” they recommended saving history and returning the building to either its Central School or City Hall origins.
The value of the land has fallen sharply over recent years. BC Assessment valued the parcel at just under $8.3 million this year, a sharp drop from the almost $15 million it was assessed at in 2022.
North Vancouver resident Bill Allman is the owner of Famous Artists Limited and president of the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame. He has staged four productions at Presentation House that include Mrs. Claus’ Kitchen, Santa Land Diaries and Love Letters with Jeff Hyslop and Ruth Nichol. Allman was a PHT board member from 2019 to 2025.
“Quite frankly, how to deal with that property has been a real quagmire for the City and for the Board,” he says. “The smart play is to redevelop it. Put up a condo tower and put in a good theatre underneath.”
PHT is the only professional theatre company on the North Shore and it’s time that the city got its own purpose-built theatre. The existing building, Allman says, has had its moment. “It’s an adequate little black box theatre, and not much more, and it’s a building with a lot of problems.”
Anne MacDonald Hall was built in 1899 as the Church of St. John the Evangelist and moved to the site from West 13th in 1973. Perhaps we could pop it back on a truck and move it next to the old 1913 Pacific Great Eastern train station. Once at the foot of Lonsdale Avenue, the PGE building has been boarded up and sitting behind a chain link fence on an undeveloped lot along the Spirit Trail since 2014.
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As someone who lives in a house built in 1898 on Mole Hill in Vancouver, I believe in preserving heritage. How much of its heritage has North Vancouver preserved? How much is still available for preservation? These questions might help guide their decision.
I worked in that building for four years in the early 80s at the North Shore Museum and Archives, as well as one summer doing box office at the theatre. I seem to recall there had been a fire in the building at one point – perhaps just before it was altered into Presentation House? It was a mess of a retrofit – there wasn’t anything left of the original structure except some of the actual 2X4’s in the walls… I agree it may not be worth saving, but the thought of replacing it with a condo tower is a sad idea. So tear it down, and then maybe move the PGE station there and make it a tea room / ice cream parlour in the summer — add a dog walking park in one section – a public herb garden in another section – a splash-pad playground – turn the Anne McDonald centre into a children’s activity centre or for yoga or art classes – how about a sculpture garden? Do something that makes the North Shore a better place to live so the people living in the crowded townhouses and souless condos have a place to go to enjoy themselves and improve their lives!
Did you find any surprising details in the house that made you lean one way or the other?
To demolish Presentation House would be a shame. There’s far too much of this “demolition by neglect” in North Vancouver and other municipalities. Presentation House has such an amazing history: school, city hall, RCMP headquarters, museum and theatre. Why destroy all that history? Restore it and let continue as the theatre.
Over the years I always enjoyed going to photography exhibits at the gallery, visiting the museum and the occasional play at the theatre. I liked the whole multi-level layout of the old place. It was a bit out of the way, but the new museum is a showcase and in a better location. I would rather see some of the original buildings survive in some way if only for their funkiness. I’ll never forget a memorial service for actress Nicola Cavendish’s partner that I attended in the theatre – and the wake in the hall that followed.
People travel to other countries and admire old buildings there. At home they tend to tear them own in the name of progress or a method to balance the budget. WE have lost a lot of old buildings in the Lower Mainland. It would be good if we preserved at least a few, more would be better, but this one could be used for community theatre, community meetings, etc. Restoring the building will cost some money but in 50 years people can walk by or go in and know that the building has stood in their city for some time and has been used by many. Its nice when that happens. We can always build new things elsewhere but once Presentation House is gone, it is gone and it will never I’. There have been a number of old buildings in the province which were interesting, but alas some were burnt to the ground such as the Grand Forks Hotel and other old hotels. I have a plate from the Grand Forks Hotel and a dish from a resturant long gone from Victoria. Asked some one about it. they remember the resturant prior to WW II and you could purchase dinner for 25 cents which included coffee and a piece of pie. Panama Cafe.
I remember the old city hall in Richmond, large, wooden and floors which were over dirt. It was torn down once a “new”one was built which in turn was replaced by the current one. I’m glad I got to see it and it would be nice if people could see Presentation house now and in 70 years say I remember when they restored it. If you don’t know where you have been how will you know where it is best to go next.