Vancouver Icons: School of Theology Building at UBC

The title of this post is misleading. First, the Vancouver School of Theology (“VST”) has just sold their iconic building to UBC’s School of Economics. Second, UBC is not technically in the City of Vancouver. Details aside, the VST’s grand Iona Building is a UBC staple and is frequently used in local film and television production. As photogenic as it is, it’s today’s Vancouver Icon:

Photo credit: I am I.A.M. on Flickr

The stone-faced Vancouver School of Theology, built in 1927 as a seminary for Protestant clergy, has been sold to the university for $28 million, it was announced today. It will become the new home of UBC’s school of economics. [Vancouver Sun]

Photo credit: Tlaloc Xicotencatl on Flickr

Photo credit: Tlaloc Xicotencatl & Arbron on Flickr

Photo credit: kiszka king & lawrence’s lenses on Flickr

Photo credit: Decaseconds on Flickr

In 1927, Ryerson College, Westminster Hall, and the Congregational College of British Columbia were amalgamated to form the United Church‘s Union College of British Columbia, housed in the west wing of the Iona Building, constructed that year. In the 1930s, the tower section was added. [VST]

Photo credit: patrick h. lauke on Flickr

Photo credit: photocafe on Flickr

VST has trained thousands of United, Anglican, Presbyterian and other clergy in the past 86 years. But principal Richard Topping says the building, with its stunning views of Bowen Island and Howe Sound, is too large and too costly for its 115 full- and part-time students.

The Christian graduate school will move this summer into a smaller, adjacent building on the north side of the UBC campus, called Somerville House. The school will retain its A-frame Chapel of Epiphany. [Vancouver Sun]

Photo credit: Tlaloc Xicotencatl on Flickr

Previous Vancouver Icons posts: Gate to the Northwest Passage, St Paul’s Hospital, Capilano Lake, Stawamus Chief, Nine O’Clock Gun, Malkin Bowl, Search, Vancouver Rowing Club, Echoes, Point Atkinson Lighthouse, English Bay Inukshuk, Hollow Tree, Hotel Europe, Lions Gate Bridge Lions, LightShed, Granville Bridge, 217.5 Arc x 13′, Canoe Bridge, Vancouver Block, Bloedel Conservatory, Centennial Rocket, Canada Place, Old Courthouse/Vancouver Art Gallery, Dominion Building, Science World, Gastown Steam Clock, SFU Burnaby, Commodore Lanes, Siwash Rock, Kitsilano Pool, White Rock Pier, Main Post Office, Planetarium Building, Lord Stanley Statue, Vancouver Library Central Branch, Victory Square, Digital Orca, The Crab Sculpture, Girl in Wetsuit, The Sun Tower, The Hotel Vancouver, The Gassy Jack Statue, The Marine Building, and The Angel of Victory. Should you have a suggestion for the Vancouver Icons series please feel free to leave a note in the comments. It should be a thing, statue, or place that is very visible and recognizable to the public.