Comments on: The Canada Post Tunnel

By: Monday’s Friday Reads – 25 December 2023 2023 - CamCab

Monday’s Friday Reads – 25 December 2023 2023 - CamCab — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 10:30:43 +0000

[…] Vancouver’s short-lived Post Office tunnel (Eve […]

By: J. O’Connell

J. O’Connell — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 22:31:42 +0000

My father J.D. O’Connell was postmaster at the time when it was being built. When reviewing the plans(I guess blue prints) he told the engineers that there was no way that trucks could make (easy) access. They disputed him! So he had them make the area to scale and cut out trucks to scale. Challenged them to get a truck into the docks. They finally agreed a went back to the drawing board. It may have been even worse for you! I remember him saying…”Engineers are good for driving trains”!
There was one neat thing about the outside window sills …they had beads of grease like caulking to keep the pigeons from landing….not designed by the engineers rather I bet some community college tech student….it worked! By the way he was pictured ( in the tunnel )in one of the previous scrips about the tunnel

By: Monique

Monique — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 02:57:08 +0000

Cool to hear the stories there at the old Canada Post building. But sad to hear they filled it in (tunnels). So typical of Vancouver and BC to wreck history. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tore down the building to put up a condo.

By: Ken Fynn

Ken Fynn — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 19:50:52 +0000

In reply to Eve Lazarus.

Hi Eve,
I worked for Canada Post for 36 years. The tunnel was a fun place to visit. We would sneak somehow get the key for the gate across the entrance and walk the entire length of the tunnel. The lights were in banks of lights that you could turn off when you had gone a certain distance and turn on the next bank of lights. It had a very Gothic feel to it. High arched ceilings. It was used for storage for quite awhile. Later, my wife and I were involved in setting up the tunnel for a Halloween treat. We removed the clear bulbs and replaced them with blue lights….kind of eerie. We had scenes set up in all the nooks and crannies. Bodies were hung from the ceilings….fog machines….people were hidden and jumped out to scare visitors. My wife would be dressed as a vampire and would be in a coffin. People weren’t sure if she was a prop or not. They would scream when she sat up and hissed. About 1000 people would have the tunnel tour in a three hour period. Sylvester Stallone filmed a movie in the tunnel. Arnold Schwarzenegger filmed “The Sixth Day” on the roof. Dick Van Dyke filmed on the roof too. The ticket for the tunnel got you the tour, a hotdog, doughnut and a drink. Ticket prices were $5. We do have a few pictures.
As a side note, I worked at Vancouver General in 1974 and used the tunnels frequently.

By: linda

linda — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 18:12:49 +0000

I was one of the Halloween decorators , a crew of maybe 4 or 5 . We would spent 2 weeks down in that tunnel getting ready for the big day and had a blast doing it. Most in our own time. Lots of fun had by all . And yes it was filled in before the last of us left for the PPC in Richmond , a shame it should have been keep.

By: Rob Olson

Rob Olson — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 02:22:27 +0000

My Mom worked so hard in this building for Canada Post. I remember the postal tucks were parked in front of the building in an empty lot. She met lots of characters for sure. My mom had the graveyard shift when I was little and it would tear me up to see her go to work but fortunately she moved into customer service in another building. I was able to get a Christmas help position when I was in high school. Paid well back in those days.

By: James

James — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 04:59:04 +0000

Wow! Thanks to Doug Parks for his and others stories. Nice to know there are many others following Eve’s facinating blog. That makes 3 tunnels now. The one onto False Creek Flats my fav. The Burnaby one was new to me. We seem to have a facination with tunnels, one from Casa Mia down the the river a myth. I think. Chinatown known for some but in reality just covered lanes.
I am claustrophobic also Eve and it really came home going into the Great pyramid, by the way still the largest man made structure( built with out the wheel even! They could make things roll though as thats how they moved the huge blocks. ) . In a way it reminds me if some of the NYC subway connections. My line the 1,2,3,9 from 14rh to Ave of the America’s(6) and my other line ( from where I lived at 74th& Broadway) the A,C,E from 42bs to Times.

By: Ron

Ron — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 08:37:55 +0000

When was it backfilled in. I work for CPC, never heard of it being filled in. Last time I was there, there was a locked gate across the entryway.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 04:33:53 +0000

Up until 2000 they would fill it up with ghosts and creepy stuff at Halloween and sell tickets for the public to go down and explore The Tunnel of Terror! After that it was locked shut.

By: Jenneffer owens

Jenneffer owens — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 03:58:56 +0000

For years Canada Post turned the tunnels into a haunted Halloween attraction. I took my kids there quite a few times in the 90s. I have pictures somewhere

By: Richard Douglas Griffin

Richard Douglas Griffin — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 02:10:30 +0000

In reply to Eve Lazarus. To bad it's been filled in it seems that they want to destroy history too easily.

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 00:24:45 +0000

Canada Post would have Halloween parties for the employees children in the tunnel. Scary lol
We all loved it!

By: Lauri

Lauri — Sun, 13 Dec 2020 23:47:27 +0000

In reply to Eve Lazarus. I have walked the tunnel a few times when I still worked in the building. There was a group of people that decorated the tunnel every year for Halloween and sold tickets. It was a lot of fun. That building was full of amazing books and crannys. I still miss working there.

By: Daphne

Daphne — Sun, 13 Dec 2020 20:49:57 +0000

In reply to Anthony Maw. I had day surgery at VGH and remenber being transported on a stretcher from daycare through the tunnel to surgery.

By: Doug Parks

Doug Parks — Sun, 13 Dec 2020 16:42:36 +0000

In reply to Eve Lazarus. My preference would be that the COV put a moratorium on most development. That's not going to happen . Vancouver has made very poor decisions in the downtown core. Granville Mall? Burrard bridge bike lanes and suicide prevention. Cambie bridge bike lanes. The Post Office is a landmark building. Saving the façade like the Huntington on Beach Ave is a cop out. Im not in favour of the new building

By: Richard Griffin

Richard Griffin — Sun, 13 Dec 2020 08:03:26 +0000

Is it still there or have the filled it in

By: Anthony Maw

Anthony Maw — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 19:37:18 +0000

In reply to Skip Savage. There are multiple tunnels under VGH. I used to study at the UBC VGH library and there was tunnel entrance opposite the library doors

By: Anthony Maw

Anthony Maw — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 19:34:54 +0000

I worked at Canada Post and sneaked into the tunnel many times during coffee breaks walked all the way to the CPR station it was bricked up at the other end but I could see through a hole in the wall that it was some kind of storage room at the other end. One could hear and feel the Skytrain running underneath the postal tunnel under Dunsmuir street too. Last i heard it was completely back filled with gravel and concrete now.

By: Skip Savage

Skip Savage — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 19:17:49 +0000

I worked at the plant in the 1980s while going to UBC and had a wonderful time there, mainly because it was crowded with interesting types of people and we worked in close quarters. One year during Christmas they assigned a few of us to a temporary sorting area in the basement right outside the tunnel. Naturally we had heard about the tunnel but never had a chance to explore it. It was still illuminated, at least the first 100 yards or so. A few abandoned bits of equipment. Dust. That’s about as all we saw before diminishing returns set in and we returned to base.

Eve, how about the VGH tunnel? I’d love to learn more about that one.

By: Doug Parks

Doug Parks — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 17:13:19 +0000

For years as a trucker one of my least favorite destinations was the post office. You needed to be Westbound on Dunsmuir make the left turn on Hamilton and take every square inch to make a hard right turn into the second loading door to enter the post office. Rookie truckers that made the mistake of trying to enter the first door would requiire traffic control to get backed out of the buiding to use the second door. Up a very steep ramp and enter a cavernous area capable of holding dozens of 60 plus foot long semis. Scraping posts breaking mirrors was normal wear and tear at the post office. If I was being live loaded I could walk to the cathedral and take in a mass or find a nearby restaurant for breakfast.
The exit onto Homer St was always interesting. Huge trucks coming from a building always seemed to shock people waiting for busses.
I know that some of the postal workers would never see daylight as their entire shift would be underground.