10. Heatley Block (1931; Houses 1889 & 1898)

684 East Hastings Street
405-419 Heatley Street

The Heatley Block, a well-loved Strathcona landmark, houses a cluster of local businesses cherished by the neighbourhood.

The main structure, built in 1931 at the southwest corner of East Hastings & Heatley, is a stucco-clad commercial/residential building. A handsome example of vernacular commercial architecture, the structure is remarkably intact, with pressed metal cornices, crenellated parapets, divided double-hung wood sash windows, original signage and decorative details.

The building contributes to the historic fabric of the neighbourhood as one of the last remaining character buildings on a particularly bleak section of East Hastings.

On the same property, but around the corner at 405 – 419 Heatley are two very early houses. Covered with asbestos siding, one of the houses, with an intact Victorian bay window, dates from 1889*. The Heatley Block and these two very old houses are not on the City’s Heritage Register.

The City of Vancouver recently purchased the Heatley Block with the intention of demolishing it to build a badly needed new community library. Heritage Vancouver encourages the city to incorporate the new branch library into the Heatley block. With the adaptive reuse of the block, the city would be able to give this community what it wants; the preservation of one of its valued heritage landmarks and the creation of a new community library.

We also encourage the city to proceed with the update of the Heritage Register, currently on hold, to ensure that restorable gems hidden under later asbestos and other sidings are identified and preserved.

Updates

Update July 9, 2008: *The date for the house on the alley has been found now to be at least 1889 – one of the few remaining Vancouver houses from that decade.

Update July 27, 2008: External resource web links have been added – see the bottom of this page below the gallery.