Watch list – ongoing
Our Watch list is made up of sites that we’re monitoring because of potential issues and concerns. Our Top10 Watch List released each year since 2001 draws in part from this list; it is published separately.
Army & Navy
Five buildings (1888–1913)
Announced May 9, 2020, the Army & Navy department stores will be shutting down after 101-years in operation. The Vancouver complex consists of five key buildings, and their future is unknown – but pressure will be on in part due to surrounding development.
1. West Hastings Street amalgamated buildings:
Map | Photos
23-25-27 West Hastings
Buscombe Building (1906)
Designed by Parr & Fee in 1906, with an unusual full glazing facade, constructed for James Stark & Sons, Ltd. pioneer dry goods merchant, originally called the “Fair Building”. Currently missing its original cornice.
23-25-27 West Hastings
Rex Theatre (1913)
Designed by architect Philip Morrison Jullien in 1913, altering an early warehouse building (c.1899) of Wood, Vallance & Leggat. Currently hidden behind a contemporary metal facade but apparently the ornate theatre facade may not have survived.
2. West Cordova Street amalgamated buildings:
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Dunn-Miller Block (1888)
8 West Cordova Street
One of the first buildings to be constructed of permanent materials after the Great 1886 Fire, designed by Noble Stonestreet Hoffar. There are surrounding development pressures along with apparently maintenance issues of the building. Army & Navy have been in the building since 1948.
Callister Block (1891)
30-30 West Cordova Street
McIntosh Block (1890)
36 West Cordova Street
Added: May 10, 2020
24 E Broadway (1906)
Duke Residence
Demolition and redevelopment
A rezoning application has been submitted, which will demolish a mid-century office building on the corner, as well as this larger substantial home built in 1906 for $3,000. The home sits on the original higher land height, before levelling reduced Broadway. It was originally owned by Robert H. Duke, Managing Director of the Pacific Coast Fire Insurance Company.
https://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/8-24ebroadwayand2520ontario/index.htm
Added: Apr 17, 2020
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123 E Hastings Street (1903)
Previous fire, boarded up, empty
Designed by architect George William Grant, this is a B-listed site on the Vancouver Heritage Register. This small building has unique and ornate Art Nouveau-style ornamentation on a sombre Edwardian facade. Although the main floor storefront has been altered, the upper storey remains essentially intact. It’s a rare survivor with its unusual decoration.
Added: Jan 11, 2020
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Georgia Street Viaducts (1972)
Demolition
The Georgia Viaduct replaced an earlier viaduct that had been built in 1913. The current viaduct eradicated a predominantly black community called Hogan’s Alley when it was built as the first part of an extensive freeway system. The freeway was never built because of huge community opposition. With the removal of the current viaduct (approved in 2015), a new 6-lane road configuration to merge Expo and Pacific Blvds is being planned. What will the impact be on local neighbourhoods like Strathcona?
Added: Jan 10, 2020
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Kitsilano Lutheran Church (1948)
2715 W 12th Avenue at Stevens St.
Demolition and redevelopment
The Church was designed by architects Joseph Francis Watson & Harold Nelson Semmens, a former AIBC president, one of the founders of UBC School of Architecture and Landscape, and architect of the mid-century former Vancouver Public Library on Burrard Street. City staff have decided that the Kitsilano Lutheran Church has no heritage value.
Added: Apr 19, 2019
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Hobbs House (1899):
1080 Burnaby Street at Thurlow St. (SE)
Demolition for a residential tower
The Hobbs Residence is a two-storey Colonial Revival-style Foursquare. Built in 1899, it is valued as one of the oldest original homes in Vancouver’s West End. Frederick E. Hobbs, master mechanic and later superintendent of works for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), owned the house until 1904.
Added: Sept 2019
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Former Georgian Towers Hotel (1955):
1450 West Georgia St.
Proposed demolition for a 49-storey tower
Designed by the prolific Vancouver architects Sharp,Thompson, Berwick & Pratt, it was built by Marwell Construction. Originally designed as a hotel, this mid-century high-rise was the catalyst that transformed Vancouver’s downtown. It has been proposed by the Vancouver Heritage Commission as an A-listing on the Vancouver Heritage Register.
Added: Sept 2019
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View cones – downtown
More and higher development in the downtown threatens the views of the mountains
While the City’s website boasts that “preserving these views ensures that Vancouver maintains its connection to nature while the city expands”, the rapid rate of development for more and more high rise buildings in the downtown threatens our view of the mountains. Will they disappear as more new buildings become higher and higher?
Added: Jan 10, 2020
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800-804-810 Granville Street at Robson (1922)
Pressure to redevelop this and adjacent lots
This commercial building were designed by noted architects Townley & Matheson. Although covered in paint, the facades of this 2-storey commercial structures are made up of patterns of variegated coloured brick.
Added: Aug 2019
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Rankin House (1946)
3560-3570 Hull Street at E 20th
Demolition
This was the home of Harry Rankin, a long-time city councillor, and a socialist icon who fought for the underdog. His home is slated to be demolished on large lot assembly to make way for a market rental development. It’s hoped there will at least be some on-site commemoration of the significance of Harry Rankin and his advocacy on behalf of the residents of Vancouver.
Added: June 2018
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Blood Alley in Gastown (1970s, quasi-historic overhaul)
Redesign
Officially named Trounce Alley, it was the first alley in Vancouver and housed Cunningham’s Stables, a broom factory and a cabin where the wife of John ‘GassyJack’ Deighton, one of Vancouver’s earliest and colourful settlers, lived. In the 1970s, developers saw the potential of Gastown and the City assisted with renovations to the streets, including Trounce Alley, to give them a more ‘historic’ look. Blood Alley, a name chosen for the non-existent butcher shops that had supposedly once been in the alley, is a fabricated name to give it more ‘sex’ appeal.
Added: Aug 2019
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Jericho Lands – West Point Grey
Redevelopment by the MST Nations and the Canada Land Corporation
It was the traditional fishing and hunting grounds of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. In 1859, it was identified as a future military reserve by the Royal Engineers. The name may have come from a logging company called Jerry & Company or Jerry & Co. located here around that time. A golf course from 1908 to 1920, the federal government established a military reserve in 1920, and in 1942 it became the Pacific headquarters during WWII. The Jericho Lands is a 90 acre site now owned by the MST Nations and is being redeveloped as a complete community.
Added: Jan 2020
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900, 917, 927 Main Street (circa 1908–1913)
A prime redevelopment site once the new St. Paul’s Hospital is built
901 Main Street, now known as 190 Prior Street, is the former BC Electric Railway Men’s Residence. Designed by architect Robert Lyon and built in 1913, it was originally designed to house recreational and meeting facilities for rail yard workers of the BCER. It is a B-listing on the Vancouver Heritage Register and municipally designated as a heritage property. Although the City recognized in 2007 that all three buildings, and others along Main Street, have significant heritage value, neither 917 (the old Royal George / Colbalt Hotel circa 1910) or 927 Main Street (circa 1908) are on the Heritage Register.
Added: Jan 2020
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Delamont Park area (pre-WW1):
Kitsilano’s oldest remaining houses
Possible future development
This unique collection of 22 city-owned pre-WW1 houses, plus several privately owned residences, forms Kitsilano’s oldest predominantly intact neighbourhood. Tucked alongside the old CPR Rail line is an enclave of sustainable low cost heritage rental housing. Because of their location there is unique feature on these houses called the Fairview Porch, a third-floor front balcony with an extended roofline that offers spectacular panoramic views. Located east of Arbutus, between 5th and 8th Avenues.
Added: Aug 2019
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West Broadway & Carolina Street (SW) development
Redevelopment
The Connacher Residence (1892) at 574 E Broadway, originally located on the corner of E Broadway and Carolina Street, is a B-listed site on the Vancouver Heritage Register. In 1920 machinist Alex Videck purchased two lots on the SW corner of E Broadway and Carolina Street and built a machine shop. In 1926, to allow for the construction of the Carolina Apartment at 2525 Carolina Street, Videck moved the Connacher Residence to the west.
The Connacher Residence will be moved again—this time to face Carolina Street, but proposed changes will affect its historic integrity. The Vancouver Heritage Commission doesn’t support the designation of the Connacher Residence for this reason. The machine shop (1920) on Carolina Street will be demolished with no heritage assessment. Note that the facade of the Carolina Apartment is actually wood siding made to look like brick.
COV Policy Report May 14, 2019
Added: May 2019
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Regent Hotel: 160 E Hastings St (1912)
Balmoral Hotel: 159 E Hastings St (1911)
Demolition – massive decay, structural compromise, and recent expropriation by the City
The Regent was designed by architect Emil Guenther and is a B-listed site on the Vancouver Heritage Register. The Balmoral was designed by architects Parr & Fee and is listed as a C-site on the Vancouver Heritage Register. Both hotels were once first class hotels catering to wealthy visitors, but most recently have been converted to single room occupancy housing for the city’s poorest. Tenants have been evicted due because of safety issues.
Regent Hotel (1912)
160 E Hastings Street
Designed by architect Emil Guenther; Heritage B-listed
Balmoral Hotel (1911)
159 E Hastings Street
Designed by architects Parr & Fee; Heritage C-listed
Added: Oct 2020
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Dunsmuir Hotel (1908)
500-502 Dunsmuir Street
Currently empty and boarded up
Once a large and prestigious hotel, it was designed in1907 by architects Parr & Fee and completed in 1908. It is a B-listed site on the Vancouver Heritage Register. The majority of this block—from West Georgia to Dunsmuir and from Seymour to Richards—will be up for redevelopment.
Added: Sep 2019
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Apartments (1910) & laneway home (1908):
1540 Yew Street at York Street
Redevelopment pressure
There are a group of interesting residences in Kits around Yew Street and York Avenue that date back to the early 1900s. The Suffolk Apartments (1540 Yew Street) and the Inverness Apartments (1546 Yew St) date from 1910. Even older, dating from 1908, are a couple of identical duplexes on York Avenue (2181-2183 and 2185-2187). These duplexes are built one behind the other with 2181-2183 York Avenue facing the laneway. It wasn’t uncommon in the day to maximize a Vancouver lot to provide additional housing. This is a surviving example of early Vancouver laneway housing. None of these century old buildings are listed on the Vancouver Heritage Register.
Added: Feb 2020
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Wright Building (1908):
52 E Hastings St.
Demolition with options for retention shelved in favour of full demolition and site consolidation
Designed by architect Henry B. Watson for Harry D. Wright of Seattle, it opened as the Wright Building and Grand Central Rooms and is a C-listed building on the Vancouver Heritage Register. In 2008, it was purchased by BC Housing for low-income housing on the Downtown Eastside. An application has been received by the City to demolish it and build a multi-use indigenous supportive housing complex, market and overdose prevention site.
Added: Oct 2019
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Angel of Victory statue (1921) at Waterfront Station
555 Cordova St.
Neglect
The City, nor apparently Cadillac Fairview that owns Waterfront Station, have no known plans or budget for the maintenance, repair, restoration, or long term conservation of this 3,000 pound, seven foot tall, bronze statue that depicts a female angel and fallen WW1 soldier ascending to heaven. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) commissioned Montreal sculptor Coeur de Lion McCarthy to create this statue in honour of its many employees who gave their lives in the First World War. Copies of the statue stand inside CPR stations in Winnipeg and Montréal.
Added: Feb 2020
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2400 Motel (1946)
2400 Kingsway
Redevelopment pressure
This complex is an original extant and rare example of 1940s motor inn / motor court architecture in Vancouver. It’s currently unknown what will occur on this stretch of Kingsway which is encouraged to be redeveloped as higher density residential / commercial developments.
Added: Aug 2019
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Vanier Park:
Museum of Vancouver (1968)
Vancouver Archives (1972)
Maritime Museum (1959,1966)
With rising sea-levels and areas of the park below sea-level, the future of the land and its educational centers are uncertain.
Vanier Park is located within the traditional lands of the Sen’ákw, home to the Squamish Nation, which became the Indian Reserve No. 6 in 1869. It became a cultural enclave in Vancouver in the 1960s. The park houses the Vancouver Maritime Museum, the Museum of Vancouver, H.R. MacMillan Space Centre (1968), the City of Vancouver Archives (the first municipal archives in Canada), the Vancouver Academy of Music (1976), and the Gordon MacMillan Southam Observatory (1979). The VMM is aiming for a new location in Coal Harbour, and the City of Vancouver Archives will be moving to the central public library.
Added: Oct 2019
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