Everyone loves a good set of “Before and After” photos, even back in the 1910’s and 1920’s when buildings were forming the first downtown Vancouver skyline. This week I’ve picked through the Vancouver Public Library archives to put together a collection of photos of some of the city’s more well-known heritage towers and landmarks when they were under construction:
Stock Exchange Building @ Howe & Pender
Photographer: Leonard Frank
Georgia Medical-Dental Building @ Georgia & Hornby
Photographer: Leonard Frank
January 9, 1929 – VPL #: 12145; March 4, 1929 – VPL #: 12148; June 15, 1929 – VPL #: 12154
The Georgia Medical-Dental Building was demolished and architectural features were preserved and used in the new tower — Cathedral Place — in 1990.
Merchants Bank @ Granville & Pender
Photographer/Studio: Dominion Photo Co.
Marine Building @ Burrard & Hastings
Photographer: Leonard Frank
Royal Bank Building @ Granville & Hastings
Photographer: Leonard Frank
Since 2001, Heritage Vancouver has published a Top Ten Endangered Sites list bringing attention and awareness to buildings and landmarks around the city that may be threatened.
1923 – St Paul’s Hospital on Burrard. Archives item# Bu N251.
From the first list in 2001: “Because of demolition, redevelopment, or neglect threatens so much of our heritage, it was tough to limit the list to ten. Sites were selected on the basis of urgency, importance and their ability to generate public interest. Each year, HV will feature a new list of endangered sites within the City of Vancouver, a look back at the year’s success stories, and a post mortem of endangered sites lost during the previous twelve months.”
Heritage Vancouver is hosting their annual Top Ten Endangered Sites Bus Tour to promote the launch of the list on Saturday, May 4, 2013 from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. Tickets are $40 ($35 for Heritage Vancouver members) and they are available for purchase in advance — this event often sells out entirely so booking early is recommended. Participants can then meet in the Museum of Vancouver parking lot
Climb aboard for an exclusive guided tour of Heritage Vancouver’s 2013 Top Ten Endangered Sites! Be the first to visit the sites on the Top Ten this year with Heritage Vancouver’s own heritage experts. Tour guides Donald Luxton, well-known author, and the President of Heritage Vancouver, and Anthony Norfolk, head of our Advocacy committee, will fascinate you with their stories of this year’s endangered sites. The bus will stop at two surprise sites and you will have the opportunity to explore these endangered sites in detail and have a conversation with community members.
The 2012 Endangered Sites List included:
1. Main Post Office (1958)
2. Historic Movie Theatres (Hollywood, Ridge)
3. St. Paul’s Hospital: Historic Burrard Building
4. Schools: Sir James Douglas Elementary (1910-12)
5. Strathcona North – Vancouver’s First Neighbourhood
6. Shaughnessy: Land Speculation
7. Wilmar Estate (1925)
8. West End Housing
9. Grandview Neighbourhood
10. Downtown Granville Street (800-1200 blocks)
Follow Heritage Vancouver on Facebook and Twitter for more information about the bus tour, the endangered sites, and the society.
Another Vancouver Biennale art project has been donated to the City of Vancouver, this time it’s Echoes by Montreal artist Michel Goulet. Echoes is a set of stainless steel chairs that were originally in the sand at Sunset Beach in 2005 and were moved to Kits Beach for Biennale in 2009.
From far away it looks as though someone abandoned a picnic in a hurry (and took off with a table) but up close, the chairs have much more meaning. Each has phrases etched in the seats and when the sun hits them all at the right angle they form a poem in shadows. “Public installations of artistic and whimsical chairs with thought provoking, often bilingual aphorisms have become a signature trademark of this Quebec based artist. A favourite of passersby this donation has been made possible by the 2005-2007 Vancouver Biennale Legacy Foundation.”
In honor of this, Echoes is today’s Vancouver Icon photo feature:
Other Vancouver Biennale Legacy works include 217.5 Arc x 13′ and A-Maze-Ing Laughter.
Previous Vancouver Icons posts: 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.
Grain Tasting Bar is the latest main lobby attraction at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver that combines rustic and contemporary elements with chic ambiance. Local craft beer specials on game nights, wood-fired pizzas, and featured BC growers, distillers, and brewers make this new hot spot shine.
Photo courtesy of Grain Tasting Bar
Chef Thomas Heinrich is originally from Australia and come to Vancouver by way of the Hyatt Regency Chicago. “Combining his innate attention to detail with a deep rooted desire to showcase the best from local growers and producers is translated at Grain. Quality ingredients, meticulous preparation and a genuine love for flavor allow our food to speak for itself.”
Lunch menu features are grouped by “lettuce” and “bread” categories and include dishes like Gelderman Farms Pork & Crispy Kale Salad, Seared Vancouver Island Albacore Tuna Salad, along with sandwiches like Roasted Pork, Little Farms Chicken, Skuna Bay Salmon, and more.
If you would like to try Grain Tasting Bar for yourself they have offered up a $100 gift card for a Miss604 reader. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
Grain Tasting Bar is open every day from 11:00am until 1:00am. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook for daily specials and the freshest menu updates.
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. You must be of legal drinking age (19+) to enter and win. The gift certificate is for food only and excludes alcohol purchases. Please enjoy responsibly.
Update The winner is Lori-Vancouver Superhost!
Other conferences might claim to have been the first social media or blogging conference in the country or the province but you’re hearing it from me today that Northern Voice was the very first.
Northern Voice launched in the late winter of 2005 solely to talk about personal blogging. Before social networking, before professional blogging, before businesses had “new” media strategies, there was Northern Voice. The event, that combines a free-form unconference on one day and a full conference schedule the next, always been affordable and ripe with opportunities to connect, not just network, with others. With that said, it’s returning for the 9th year this June and organizers are currently looking for speakers.
When June 14 to June 15, 2013
Where H.R. MacMillan Space Centre and Museum of Vancouver
Do you love the web? Do you like to create and share? Or have a unique experience to offer? Then Northern Voice 2013 is the place for you. We are now looking for speakers for the 2013 conference. If you have a topic to speak about, a story to tell or want to develop and run a panel; we encourage you to send in your awesome submissions by April 12, 2013. Please limit your submission to one typed page (250 words) when you send your submission in or if you do so via email include links to online properties you may have.
We’ve always loved attending Northern Voice. It’s where…
…I took a blurry photo with Matt Mullenweg, Founder of WordPress and posed for a silly photo with Stewart Butterfield, Co-Founder of Flickr
… I took this photo of Tod Maffin doing a CBC tour and it remained my #1 most-viewed photo for over a year
… I could sit behind moose antlers or beside Jeremy David in a Pokemon outfit
… I read strange quotes on screen from Darren Barefoot and Rob Cottingham
… I could wear the conference’s Bloggable t-shirt and a sheriff badge while liveblogging
… I met Bryan Alexander (author of The New Digital Storytelling) and hung out with awesome people like Bev Davies and Kris Krug
It’s also where I have been inspired by Nora Young, Robert Scoble, Anil Dash, and Tim Bray. If you would like to be a part of this warm and welcoming event that helped me with my blogging journey, send in your talk ideas by Friday, April 12, 2013 for consideration. Follow @NorthernVoice on Twitter for more information such as ticket sales and schedules.
