I was inspired to write this post after seeing this photo by Canadian Colour, that originally appeared in the Province, August 20, 1936.
In 1911, Vancouver had a population of less than 150,000 and yet the city felt big enough to sustain a 10,000-seat arena with the first artificial ice in Canada. It was built by a couple of kids from Victoria: brothers Frank and Lester Patrick (aged 25 and 27 respectively) who needed a home for their new Pacific Coast Hockey Association.
I was floored to find that the Rogers Arena—built in 1995—is the largest in Vancouver and the 6th largest in the country with 19,700 seats; followed by the Pacific Coliseum—built in 1967 with 17,150 seats (9th largest in Canada), and UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium—built in 2008 with 8,000 seats.
The Denman Arena sat at the northwest corner of Denman and Georgia and hosted the New Westminster Royals, the Victoria Aristocrats and the Vancouver Millionaires. In 1915, the Millionaires won the Stanley Cup (Vancouver’s first and only Stanley Cup), when they beat the Ottawa Senators in three straight games.
But the Arena was much more than hockey. Jack Dempsey and James Braddock fought there, Rudolph Valentino judged a beauty contest, and Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) gave a speech in the building. It was also used for public skating, curling, wrestling matches, military assemblies and musical performances.
On August 20, 1936, just hours after 4,000 boxing fans watched Max Baer fight James Walsh, the building burned to the ground in the city’s first four-alarm fire in years.
The fire broke out near the Fenner and Hood shipyard on West Georgia.
From a Province story that night:
“The arena was nothing but a mass of charred and broken bricks and tangled steel girders. The adjacent auditorium was badly damaged. A portion of the north wall, facing the Arena, had been burned out. Almost completely destroyed were the shipbuilding and marine plans of Fenner & Hood, Cliff Sangster, Marine Sales & Service, T.J. Kerley, Utility Boat Works, Orr and Hudson boat brokers. These were all frame establishments.”
One houseboat and several small boats were destroyed, and three firefighters were hurt in the blaze. The damage was estimated at more than $500,000.
In 1927, the Patricks built the Denman Auditorium just to the south of the Arena. It survived the fire, and was demolished in 1959. It narrowly escaped three attempts to turn it into a huge hotel and condo complex in the ‘60s, was briefly repurposed into All Seasons Park by a bunch of hippies, and became part of Devonian Harbour Park in the ‘70s.
© All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all blog content copyright Eve Lazarus.
Sources:
- Province: August 20, 1936
- Province: Chuck Davies, August 20, 2004
- Vancouver Sun: John Mackie, August 21, 2012
- The West End Vancouver Blog
Seems like a Vancouver place too important to forget.
Thanks for this story, Eve and to Mark Truelove for the dramatic colour photo.
I really like Coal Harbour stories – there was a lot of life there in the early years – the navy, the shipping, the yachts and related industry, along with all the people living there on land, on the shoreline and on the water.
Devonian Harbour Park seems very boring compared to what was once there!
I’ve often wondered if this was the arena that hosted the Prince of Wales Ball in 1919. According to the website, The History of Metropolitan Vancouver:
September 22 – Edward, Prince of Wales, 25, visited Vancouver. There was a civic reception and a military ball in the Arena in the evening with tickets at $5.
Great bit of history – thanks for the post.
Just before the demolition of the shipyards, marine ways and other businesses at the foot of Denman in the late 1970s, I remember poking around all the buildings with a friend on a Sunday afternoon, and taking some photos. No security issues to worry about back then.
A friend of mine in the 1980s, Robin Svendsen, was a master machinist who never really retired. He rebuilt Ford Model-T engines in his basement and rented out Hammond B-3 organs from his house, among other things. In the 1950s, he was the stage manager of the Denman Auditorium, and often told the story of when a sold out crowd came to hear Glenn Gould perform a piano recital circa 1951. When the performance ended, Gould left the stage, but the audience kept applauding and cheering for an encore. His manager came up to Robin saying he couldn’t find Gould anywhere, and Robin replied: “I think I know where he is.” Robin went down to the basement, and found Gould soaking his hands in a sink of warm water. He told Gould to listen to the applause upstairs – people wanted him to do an encore. Gould seemed surprised this was so, but dried off his hands and went back to the piano to do a final performance.
Another excellent topic, Eve. Love the colourization by Mark Truelove; he totally brings the image alive. I wish there were more pictures available of the Denman Arena, but there seems to be a real lack. Many great performers played there throughout the 30’s and 40’s, especially.
*Meant to say 20’s and 30’s! Ha ha
Beautiful piece of Vancouver History. Thank you!!!
In the 50s when I was going to Vancouver technical school we could volunteer to be an usher at the denman auditorium so I got to see. a lot of famous people entertaining it was truly a great experience
Great story, Thanks for Posting!
Would that be the building I roller skates in during the 49’s