It’s one of Vancouver’s lost landmarks and all that remains are pieces of its opulent interior, which can be found in antique shops or repurposed home decor, occasionally unbeknownst to the homeowner. From 1916 to 1949, the Second Hotel Vancouver stood on West Georgia Street between Howe and Granville. Built in a grand Italianate revival style, it was considered one of the great hotels of the British Empire.
1917. Second Hotel Vancouver. Georgia and Granville. Photographer: Philip Timms. Archives# CVA 677-21.
The First Hotel Vancouver
The first Hotel Vancouver, that opened in 1888, was rather utilitarian at first. It was also on the corner of Granville and Georgia. According to Fairmont, it was “a five-story, brick structure that looked and functioned much like a farmhouse.” In 1893, new Van Horne Wing on Granville was built, and another wing was added in 1904.
1890s. Georgia and Granville. First Hotel Vancouver. Archives# M-3-8.3.
In 1910 the CPR excavated on Howe Street and in early 1911 built Honeyman and Curtis’s Annex. Meanwhile, at the end of 1910 the new CPR architect W S Painter obtained a building permit for $2,000,000 for an ‘Addition to hotel’. In January 1912 it was reported that a $1,000,000 14-storey replacement hotel would be built for the CPR. It wouldn’t just fill the Granville and Georgia corner, it filled the block all the way back to Robson and Howe. [Source: Changing Vancouver]
The Second Hotel Vancouver
The Canadian Pacific Railway built the hotel, with tiers that stepped up to a central section, from 7 to 10 and finally 16 storeys, with architect Francis S. Swales between 1912 and 1916. It was the most remarkable and expensive building that the city had seen, according to Changing Vancouver. “When completed the hotel, it is said, will have the largest ground floor corridors of any hotel in existence.”
Features included arched windows, castle-like turrets and a 14th floor that was adorned with eight-foot tall terra cotta moose and buffalo head sculptures. Gargoyles, Canadian-style. The hotel was big, with 700 rooms, several dining rooms, two ballrooms, a billiard room, shops and offices. And it was a study in elegance, from its three-storey entrance portico to its renowned rooftop garden. [Source: Vancouver Sun]
1914. Upper floors under construction. Archives# Hot P55.3.
1923. Photographer: Philip Timms. Archives# CVA 677-951.
1929. Photographer: Leonard Frank. Archives# Van Sc P63.5.
1910s. Driveway of the Second Hotel Vancouver. Archives# CVA 677-534.
It was where dignitaries and stars of the silver screen stayed in Vancouver, and where locals enjoyed rooftop dining and dancing.
1920. Corner of Georgie and Hornby. Archives# CVA 371-884.
Just imagine Georgia and Granville back then: The Hudson’s Bay Building, Birks Building, Vancouver Block, and the Hotel Vancouver. Attached to the hotel was the Vancouver Opera House, later the Lyric Theatre, and the Orpheum down the block.
(Left) 1917 Photographer: F. Gowen. Archives# CVA 677-170. (Right) 2014 Photographer Steve Vanderwoerd. View from Robson Street. Click to view large.
“It was beautiful and grand,” Dal Richards, Vancouver’s late, great, King of Swing, once told the Vancouver Sun: “They had a Crystal Ballroom, adjoined by what they called Peacock Alley, which was a broad entrance hall that went down the full length of the ballroom. It had antique furniture, oriental rugs and all that sort of thing, brass railings. Below that, in the lower level, dancing all year was done in what was called the Spanish Grill. That was the nightclub of the hotel, that’s where the orchestras played.”
If it had survived, this Hotel Vancouver would now be the place to stay in town, a heritage hotel to rank with The Empress in Victoria or The Palace in San Francisco. But it was killed by the falling fortunes of its owner, the Canadian Pacific Railway. [Source: Vancouver Sun]
1949 – Demolition of the Second Hotel Vancouver. VPL # 42396
Architectural historian Harold Kalman says in the The History of Metropolitan Vancouver: “Delayed by the Depression, it [the third Hotel Vancouver] was rushed to completion in 1939 for the Royal Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The rival CPR co-operatively closed its own, earlier, Hotel Vancouver (two blocks east), lent the name, and entered into a joint management contract.”
1939. View of the Second from the Third (current) Hotel Vancouver along Georgia. Archives# CVA 1376-154.
1916. The Second Hotel Vancouver’s rooftop garden. Photographer:Canadian Photo Co. Archives #PAN N120A.
1939. View down Georgia of Birks Building, Second Hotel Vancouver, Third Hotel Vancouver. Photographer: Leonard Frank. Archives #LP 159.
1949. View of the demolition of the Second Hotel Vancouver from what is now the art gallery. Hudsons’s Bay Building, Birks Building, and Vancouver Block in the background. Photographer: Walter E. Frost. Archives #CVA 447-60.
With no one willing to buy and rehabilitate the 1916 hotel, it was demolished in 1949. “In its last years,” writes Chuck Davis, “it served as army barracks during WWII,and then housed veterans, who squatted during a housing crunch.”
1969. Looking at a vacant Georgia and Howe from the Hotel Georgia. Click to see 2016 view. Photographer: Ernie H. Reksten. Archives# 2010-006.091.
Nothing, except for a parking lot, would occupy that valuable piece of prime Vancouver real estate until the TD Tower and Eaton’s Centre were built in the 1972.
It’s been six years since the City of Vancouver began its expanded food cart program and there are now over 100 food trucks, carts, and vendors selling convenient, diverse, and delicious food on Vancouver streets. Whether you have a favourite lunchtime truck or one dish you’ve been eyeing on Instagram for months, you can check out 20 vendors all in one place at Street Food City during Dine Out Vancouver.
Street Food City
Presented by Tourism Vancouver, Street Food Vancouver Society, and the Downtown Vancouver BIA, Street Food City runs January 16 to 24, 2016 at the Vancouver Art Gallery’s North Plaza. There is no cost of admission. Hours are 11:00am to 5:00pm Saturdays and Sundays; 11:00am to 3:00pm Monday through Friday.
Tents and tables will be setup along with music for outdoor diners. Special Dine Out Vancouver creations and pricing will be available. Follow Dine Out Vancouver on Twitter and Facebook for more information about this event and hundreds of dining options throughout the festival this year.
For every city John and I visit, we enter at least one museum. In the spring it was the Concord Museum in Massachusetts (with artifacts from writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau), then it was the The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (where we looked up a painting by Iowa artist Grant Wood), we’ve visited the Neon Museum in Las Vegas, and the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention in Bellingham — just to name a few. One place we always make a point of visiting in Seattle is the EMP, which featured music, Sci-Fi, and pop culture exhibits. This venue and many more are included in Seattle Museum Month.
Seattle Museum Month
Throughout the month of February, guests at 59 participating downtown Seattle hotels will have access to 50% discounts at more than 40 participating museums, including several of the region’s most noteworthy 2016 exhibitions. Your hotel will give you a pass and check-in to explore the following places:
EMP Museum
NW Seaport*
Milepost 31*
USS Turner Joy
Museum of Flight
Museum of Glass
Seattle Aquarium
Frye Art Museum*
Henry Art Gallery
Seattle Art Museum
Steamer Virginia V*
Woodland Park Zoo
Bellevue Arts Museum
Job Carr Cabin Museum*
Kids Discovery Museum
Kitsap History Museum
LeMay Family Collection
Chihuly Garden and Glass
Living Computer Museum
Naval Undersea Museum*
Nordic Heritage Museum
Seattle Pinball Museum
Olympic Sculpture Park*
Pacific Bonsai Museum*
Pacific Science Center
Puget Sound Navy Museum*
Seattle Asian Art Museum
Northwest Railway Museum*
Shoreline Historical Museum*
The Center for Wooden Boats*
Valentinetti Puppet Museum*
LeMay – America’s Car Museum
Washington State History Museum
Northwest African American Museum
Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI)
Bainbridge Island Museum of Art*
Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center*
Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park*
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center*
Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience
* = Free Admission
We’re usually in Seattle for a show, a ball game, or a soccer game, but there’s a lot of arts and culture to explore. From pinball and wooden boats, to history, arts, and puppets, Seattle’s museum collection is diverse. Follow Visit Seattle on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
The offers are valid for guests staying at one of 59 participating downtown Seattle hotels. Guests must present an official Seattle Museum Month guest pass at participating museums to redeem the discounts; these discounts will be valid for all guests staying in the hotel room (not to exceed four people) during hotel stay dates.
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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Review — This is not a paid post. Views are my own. I received media review tickets for the purpose of providing this coverage. Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
It has been the soundtrack to sleepovers, road trips, and pool parties for almost thirty years. With that kind of pressure, and a lot of anticipation, Dirty Dancing premiered on stage in Vancouver and left even the biggest super-fans extremely happy.
Dirty Dancing on Stage in Vancouver
Opening at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre earlier this week, I was delighted to see how well the classic 1987 film translated from screen to stage — it’s as though it was meant to be performed on stage all along. Vibrant costumes, toe-tapping musical numbers, and the soundtrack everyone knows the words to.
I could tell that many excited patrons, who posed for photos next to the show poster in the lobby of the theatre ahead of time, were cautiously optimistic: Would this production live up to the cinematic version they loved so much?
When the show began it felt like I was at a Las Vegas cabaret, with the crowd hollering and clapping even before the performers appeared on stage. The live band, which also played the band in the show, was dressed the part. The costumes, both prim and proper 1963 attire for respectable young men and women, and the bombshell dance outfits, were brilliant on stage and under the lights.
My friend Keira, who watched her VHS copy countless times growing up, said that even the casting was perfect. Just by browsing head shots in the program ahead of time she knew who the actors were portraying. Their looks were spot on as were their performances (like Ryan Jesse as Neil Kellerman). Although there will never be another Patrick Swayze, the crowd sure did love Christopher Tierney as Johnny Castle.
As for me, I was smitten with Jenny Winton as Penny, but there were so many standouts, it was a great ensemble. Live singing by Adrienne Walker (Elizabeth) and Doug Carpenter (Billy) just brought that much more life to an already animated performance.
The show did a great job of not taking itself too seriously, while still delivering unique effects and a quality production – from bright golf course and dining room scenes to the sultry secluded employee dance cabin numbers. The audience clapped along with musical numbers, cheered aloud when favourite lines were delivered, and I swear I heard several people sing along to Kellerman’s Anthem.
Dirty Dancing is on stage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre until January 17, 2016. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster online. Performances run Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00pm, Sunday evening at 7:30pm with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm.
It’s great for date night, girls night, or simply a fun night out. Make sure you pose in the photo booth with some of your favourite quotes from the show too.
Opening at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre earlier this week, I was delighted to see how well the classic 1987 film translated from screen to stage — it’s as though it was meant to be performed on stage all along. Vibrant costumes, toe-tapping musical numbers, and the soundtrack everyone knows the words to.