Granville Street Starwalk and Redesign

It’s been around since 1994 but does anyone ever really notice it? Passing over the plaques of Dal Richards and Diana Krall this afternoon I was inspired to find out more about Vancouver’s own walk of fame.

Photo credit: freedryk on Flickr

The Starwalk pays tribute to local musicians, entertainers, producers, actors and radio DJ’s, which is a compliment to the old days of Granville street itself. The Starwalk spans from the entrance of the Orpheum, heads East up Granville and even loops around the back of the building including inductees’ tiles on the wall that borders Seymour street.

But just who runs the Starwalk and who decides which celebs get included?

The B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame honours BC residents who have made an outstanding contribution to entertainment in British Columbia, across Canada, and around the world.

Starwalk at the Orpheum was inaugurated on July 24, 1994, honouring members with plaques embedded in the sidewalk along Granville Mall near the Orpheum. The Starwall gallery inside the Orpheum is a display of member’s photos. To date 158 individuals have been honoured with induction into the Hall of Fame and Starwalk at the Orpheum.

The Vancouver Favourites category honours international entertainment personalities who have captured the hearts of Vancouverites through frequent visits to the city. Their plaques are installed on the exterior of the Orpheum near the Stage Door at 865 Seymour Street. [BC Entertainment Hall of Fame]

However, the Starwalk’s been criticized for excluding, or not yet inducting several internationally-acclaimed, big name stars:

Where are B.C.’s two big movie stars of the 1940s — Penticton’s Alexis Smith, who shared the screen with Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant and later won a Tony Award, and Vancouver’s Yvonne De Carlo, who starred in many movies and later TV’s The Munsters?… ….Burnaby’s Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) and New Westminster’s Raymond Burr (TV’s Perry Mason)? [TheProvince]

Photo credit: Jeffery Simpson on Flickr

Regardless, the next time you’re taking a stroll to the Adidas or Puma store, take a look down and see if you recognize any of the names under your feet. If you don’t, then why not go home and Google them to find out more about these instrumental players in BC’s entertainment history.

More Starwalk info is available on the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame website, or blog (although someone should really get them off Blogger) and a list of inaugural inductees is on the Vancouver History site.

On Wednesday January 23, 2008 there will be an open house at the Pacific Centre Atrium (Georgia and Howe, 12-1:30 pm and 4:30-7:30 pm) for all interested parties to view approved sketches and get answers to questions with regards to the redesign of Granville street.

The purpose of the will be to “enhance traffic, pedestrian movement and vitality of Granville from Drake to Cordova”.

A two-block long civic plaza is proposed to be centered on the high point of Granville Street at Georgia Street. The plaza, characterized by both permanent and temporary installations, is envisaged as the centre of commercial street life in the downtown. Access to the two Granville Street rapid transit stations between Robson and Dunsmuir Streets will also be facilitated by the wider sidewalks of the civic plaza. [See: Approved Design]

As for the Starwalk, it will be included in all plans going forward, as confirmed on the city’s site last March.