The first play I saw at The Stanley was Hamlet in 1998, presented by The Arts Club. I had just finished studying the tragedy in AP English and it was a delight to see it come to life on stage, and what a beautiful stage it was. I have since seen many productions, ranging from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to The Producers, Dreamgirls, White Christmas, Les Miserables, and even A Christmas Story: The Musical. That’s my personal history with the theatre, now here’s a bit more:
Opened in 1930 at 2750 Granville Street, the Moorish-style theatre was “ultra-modern in every respect […] equipped with the latest technology for talking pictures and also a pipe organ” with 1,200 seats.
1951 The Stanley Theatre. Archives# CVA 772-12
It was a landmark movie house for sixty years, and in 1991 when Famous Players closed the venue, it had become the oldest operating movie theatre in Vancouver.
1985 The Stanley Theatre. Archives# CVA 790-2269
Prior to its closure, there was a campaign to “Save Our Stanley” to preserve the building and prevent commercial redevelopment of the space. In 1994, the Stanley Theatre Society was formed to try to buy the Stanley for the Arts Club Theatre Company, and in 1997 it purchased the theatre from Famous Players for $3,173,000.
1986 Stanley Theatre Archives# CVA 791-1359
Shuttered for seven years, it was masterfully renovated to update its art deco style. In 1998, it reopened as a 650-seat playhouse for the Arts Club Theatre Company and in 2005 it took on the name The Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage with the addition of new sponsors.
The restoration of the venue received a 1999 City of Vancouver Heritage Award.
The theatre is quiet once again, due to COVID-19, but as soon as audiences can once again gather The Arts Club will fire up the spotlights under the dome once more. For now, you can enjoy the company’s digital programming here.
Remember when parks were closed? That foggy time in March and April where a bounty of cherry blossoms filled the canopy and no one was there to photograph them? When ‘going for a walk’ meant taking a stroll from the refrigerator to the living room instead of a forest or marshland trek? To make sure that type of lockdown doesn’t happen again, you can heed this advice to help keep Metro Vancouver Parks open:
Help Keep Metro Vancouver Parks Open
“Metro Vancouver has kept regional parks open as outlets for people to safely enjoy the outdoors, but we are seeing too many visitors neglecting physical distancing guidelines, raising the risk of community virus transmission,” said Sav Dhaliwal, Chair of the Metro Vancouver Board of Directors. “As Dr. Henry warned earlier this week, we must keep our physical interactions to about 60% of normal in order to avoid a major spike in new cases.”
Beach parks, especially White Pine Beach at Sasamat Lake in Belcarra Regional Park and Boundary Bay Regional Park, have experienced high demand, especially on weekends, leading to local traffic, parking and physical distancing challenges.
Parks visitors are asked to follow these guidelines:
Choose parks in your own area – do not travel across the region
Avoid beach parks – explore nearby trail-based parks instead
Walk, bike, or take transit to avoid contributing to traffic and parking issues
Maintain physical distance of at least two metres from others at all times, including in parking lots
Dispose of tissues and other waste in designated garbage bins
Pack it in, pack it out – do not leave any items behind in parks
Wash or sanitize hands frequently during the day and upon returning home
Stay home if you are sick
All Metro Vancouver Regional Parks are open. Metro Vancouver has increased staff patrols, sanitation of high-touch surfaces, traffic management and continues to monitor and manage visitor behaviour. Staff are reassessing the status of each regional park on an ongoing basis.
Minnekhada Park
Amenities including playgrounds, picnic shelters, group camps and reservable facilities are open, and some nature programs have resumed with modifications.
Parking restrictions are in place at select parks and municipalities have ramped up parking enforcement in residential areas near regional parks.
Stanley Park Brewing Restaurant and Brewpub will be celebrating its one year anniversary with a lineup of events including a beer pairing dinner, outdoor sunset yoga, beer garden, outdoor concerts, and more.
Stanley Park Brewing Restaurant and Brewpub’s One Year Anniversary
While maintaining the appropriate social distancing protocols they have lined up a full week of celebrations that include:
Photo from the Juneteenth March in Vancouver, courtesy of Freedom March Vancouver
Emancipation Day March in Vancouver
Those wishing to participate in the march are reminded to take COVID-19 precautions and to wear masks, socially distance, and monitor for possible symptoms in the two weeks after.
August 1st marks Emancipation Day in Kanata (Kanata is an Indigenous Canadian word meaning “village” or “settlement”). The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ended slavery in the British Empire on August 1, 1834, and thus also in Canada. Emancipation Day is a day to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Canada.
Following the JUNETEENTH March that took place on June 19th that drew a massive crowd of thousands to downtown Vancouver, members of the community have advocated to continue to march in unity; it is not only emotionally expressive but holds immense power, history and tradition, and is a powerful tool to create change and express community values in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Organized by Vancouver-based Nova Stevens and Shamika Mitchell, The Emancipation Day March will take begin at Jack Poole Plaza at 1:00pm, Saturday August 1st. The march route will begin from Jack Poole Plaza, heading south along Thurlow Street, west on Beach Avenue, and will complete at Sunset Beach Park.
Following the march, a stage will be set up at Sunset Beach Park where Black artists and speakers will be performing and addressing the crowd. Black-owned businesses will also be at the site to showcase local Black culture, soul food and more.
