2005
Top Ten Endangered Sites
Top 10 2005 |
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The future
of Chinatown & Gastown is again uncertain but it's not due to lack of heritage incentives. Property owners and developersare
indeed rushing to the trough not to rehabilitate, however, but to demolish all but street-facing facades.
The future of Chinatown & Gastown is again
uncertain - but it's not due to lack of heritage incentives.
In fact, we congratulated the City on the adoption of generous
incentives that included long-awaited tax breaks. Finally,
we thought, property owners can finance rehabilitation and
re-use.
Well, property owners and developers are indeed
rushing to the trough - not to rehabilitate, however, but
to demolish all but street-facing facades. In return, of course,
they ask for heritage benefits and the arguments for facadism
are disturbingly similar: old structures are unstable or deteriorated,
require expensive seismic upgrades, have unworkable floor-plans,
can't accommodate parking, etcetera.
This raises disturbing questions: is conservation
of a historic district only about facades? What is the purpose
of heritage incentives? Does the need for economic revitalization
trump conservation?
Chinatown
In Chinatown, this situation is critical, because
its buildings have rich historical significance - e.g., the
many family and benevolent association structures and buildings
such as the former Chinese Times and the Chinese Freemasons.
To date, proposals for the latter two, either
approved or pending, retain little beyond the buildings' shell.
This is now our big concern for the Wing Sang building, featured
in the 2004 Top Ten list.
Reputedly the oldest structure in Chinatown,
the original building (at 51 Pender St.) is a tiny two-storey
'Victorian Italianate' dating from 1889. The second floor
is unique for its 'doorway-to nowhere' through which furniture
was winched to bypass narrow stairways. The 1889 building
was incorporated into a larger structure built in 1901 by
owner Yip Sang and designed by architect Thomas Ennor Julian
(best known for Holy Rosary Cathedral). The 3-storey addition,
featuring a second-floor row of bay windows, housed Chinatown's
first Chinese doctor and two of its best-known restaurants
- the BC Royal and the Yen Lock.
Behind the building was Market Alley, once a
thriving retail area of small shops and services. In 1912,
Yip Sang built a 6-storey brick building behind to provide
a separate floor for each of his families - 3 wives and 23
children. Last fall, HV was encouraged to hear of the building's
purchase by Bob Rennie, who was reported to be planning a
full heritage restoration, with offices and an art gallery
in the front building and conversion of the alley building
to loft condos. Now, however, rumour has it that little but
the exterior will remain. If this is the case, an important
piece of Chinatown's history will be lost, and a disturbing
precedent set. Chinatown deserves more than facadism!
Gastown
In Gastown, an iconic streetscape, five pivotal
buildings may be compromised. Three related development proposals
affect the historic Alhambra Hotel (1886) on Maple Tree Square,
and all intervening buildings as far as the former Terminus
Hotel - including the 'Garage', the Cordage Building and the
Grand Hotel. Only the Terminus Hotel's facade remains after
a tragic fire.
The developer is now requesting that the Grand
join its neighbour in the facade club, due to structural rot,
unworkable layouts, and proposed parking excavation. Equally
disturbing is the proposed height and bulk of additions: under
the previous zoning (kept on the books to appease Gastown
property owners), developers can forego heritage incentives
and build to a full height of 75' with no set-backs. This
allows applicants the leverage to demand bonus height and
floor space well in excess of the norm.
The initial proposal would pile 3 floors above
the Grand's current 3 storeys and 2 additional floors on top
of the Terminus; the result would overwhelm the existing facades.
As well, the bulky additions would be major intrusions in
the streetscape, especially as viewed along Water Street from
the west.
A related proposal includes 3 additional floors
on the 'Garage' and (gasp!) a 2-storey glass addition on top
of the Alhambra..
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