Quote:
Originally Posted by EastVanMark
My point wasn't about empty lots, rather the decision to tear down great, historic, structurally sound buildings, and replaced them with a lesser structure or nothing at all.
A quick comparison:
Let see, the second hotel Vancouver and the Palliser Hotel in Calgary were built months apart by the same company. The Palliser still serves the city of Calgary today while Vancouver's was torn down in the 40's. Calgary's old city hall, still around for people to visit today while Vancouver's from the same era; not so much. The Canadian Life Assurance building in Calgary and the Birks Building in Vancouver; buildings that were separated at birth (also built 1 year apart). Today, Calgary's lives on (albeit in a different form) at the base of the Bankers Hall complex, while ours was replaced by a 2 story 70's inspired piece of crap.
When it comes to the loss of important, landmark buildings,(without replacing them with something bigger or better) Vancouver's dubious record is tough to beat.
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Okay, some of Calgary's important landmarks have been saved but there seemed to have been more 'grandiose' buildings built in Vancouver during the early years.
I guess one thing I did notice when comparing the two cities is the sheer amount of heritage buildings left in Vancouver and the number that are designated sites. That to me is impressive. Too bad many of the above mentioned buildings were lost before the value of them was realized.