When Sandra-Mae Luykx heard Zocalo was among the businesses destroyed in a fire on Main Street Thursday, the musician rushed to the scene to see for herself.
But seeing the charred remains of the popular Mexican restaurant get torn apart by an excavator brought her to tears.
"I came here to see it first-hand and it just completely overwhelmed me," the teary eyed Luykx said. "I didn't know it was this bad ... this is just horrible."
To some of the onlookers, the rubble was no more than the remains of a physical structure. But to Luykx, the fire took with it a lifetime of memories.
"We used to play at Zocalo twice a month, every other Wednesday," she said. "It was the best place to work in Vancouver - hands down. [The owner] put her entire life into this restaurant, she supported local artists."
Luis Gutierrez, a salsa and flamenco performer, was supposed to perform at the restaurant last night.
"It was a big part of the Latino community," he said. "It was an amazing restaurant, beautiful food and was an important place for Latinos to meet because of the atmosphere and live music. People come and dance and chat with everybody. This is very sad... very, very sad."
Vincent Gale, with his four-year-old son Max on his shoulders, couldn't help but feel a sense of loss.
"It's fairly devastating for the community," the Mount Pleasant resident said. "These were all old buildings. As the community grows and new buildings go up, it's nice to see some history and diversity on the streets, it will be sadly missed."
