Canada Post building heritage not worth saving 0
By Daniel Fontaine, Dialogue with a Difference
Canada Post Building on West Georgia St. in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wednesday February 6, 2013 (BY CARMINE MARINELLI, 24 HOURS)
When it comes to heritage preservation, I suspect most Vancouverites think city hall’s resources are targeted at saving century-old brick buildings in neighbourhoods such as Gastown. But the reality is almost any building or structure in this city can be deemed to have some kind of historic value.
The most recent high-profile issue to make waves was the Waldorf Hotel. When it was announced the East Hastings St. property was sold to a developer, city politicians played the heritage card and said they wouldn’t issue a demolition permit for at least four months.
City bureaucrats were asked by Mayor Gregor Robertson to go away and conduct a review of the heritage value of the Waldorf. But did you know this review not only pertained to the building itself, but to the activities that took place in it since it was built?
In an interview with the CBC’s Rick Cluff, Vancouver chief planner Brian Jackson confirmed the hotel’s heritage review goes well beyond the physical structure itself.
Cluff: “It’s not just the structure we’re talking about, it’s what goes on inside that structure which is also very important to the community.”
Jackson: “That’s correct. And that’s a harder to thing to measure. You know you can always pick an architect whose work you want to save. You can also pick an era of architecture you want to save. But cultural heritage is much more esoteric and difficult to define.”
The Waldorf isn’t the only endangered edifice prompting heritage advocates to move to high alert. It was recently announced the downtown Canada Post building on Georgia Street has also been sold for possible redevelopment.
Once again, there are calls for city hall to step in and preserve this ‘gem’ of a building. It’s only a matter of time before people ask the mayor and council to put some money on the table to help save this now privately owned 1958 modernist-style building.
The Vancouver post office headquarters is a massive, unattractive hulk of a structure. The fact the feds finally sold it now affords us the opportunity to take it down. In its place should rise an iconic piece of architecture, as well as public gathering and green space reflecting the modern city Vancouver has become.
Let’s just hope that in the spirit of compromise, city officials don’t end up making another horrible heritage decision like they did with the BowMac sign on West Broadway.
The rusting former car dealership sign, now partly covered by a sign for current tenant Toys“R”Us, is a symbol of how preserving heritage doesn’t always translate into something good in the end.
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