Downtown Vancouver Updates

[Rusty Gull]

Originally Posted by biketrouble

This is completely false. The methodology may have been questionable but you are completely misrepresenting it. From the report linked at BTA Works:

I don't count the RETalks forum as very authoritative...

Oh. Sorry. 13 pre-selected buildings downtown... out of what.. hundreds of buildings.

Yes, very scientific.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Amidst all this change, I hear no mention of the CURRENT VAG building on West Georgia; the one with the stone lions, columns
and classic dome roof.

What is to become of this heritage building?

Will it be torn down?

Will it be used in another function?

If so, what?

What would be the best role for it economically? Culturally?

Please give me your ideas

thanks

This is just a copy of my post from the Robson Square thread, but seems relevant here too.

It seems a lot of people don't know the history of the VAG building.

There is no chance in any form that the VAG building will fall into disrepair or be torn down ever because of two words: Francis Rattenbury.

The VAG used to be the Vancouver Courthouse, and the architect was none other than the BC Legend and built in 1906.

If the name is not ringing any bells, then I hope you are not from BC (and I mean all of you, this isn't a conversation with trofirhen).

Francis Rattenbury designed the BC Provincial Parliament buildings, the Empress Hotel, CPR Steamship terminal Building, Crystal Gardens and many other buildings.

The annex of the Courthouse (on the back; on Robson) was designed by Thomas Hooper, who was the Architect on the Spencer Building (now SFU harbor center) and the Winch Building (of the Sinclair Center). Both the Courthouse and the Annex (the annex is still left in original condition with court rooms inside) are Heritage buildings.

The VAG building and grounds, including the centennial fountain in the front (celebrating the centennial of the union of the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia) and Robson Square (designed by another BC Legend Aurthur Erickson who also worked on the renovations of the buildings into the art gallery) is one of the most significant pieces of BC history in the city.

At one end is the new Courthouse designed by Aurthur Erickson and at the other end is the old Vancouver Courthouse designed by Francis Rattenbury and the annex by Thomas Hooper. It's old meets new; two bookends of Vancouver Architectural History. The history of BC contained in those few blocks is staggering, and it's importance to BCers should not be underestimated.

[biketrouble]

Originally Posted by Rusty Gull

Oh. Sorry. 13 pre-selected buildings downtown... out of what.. hundreds of buildings.

Yes, very scientific.

Another "debunking" of the quality I've come to expect from RET participants

[hollywoodnorth]

any updates on Metroliving tower at 999 Seymour?

[Rusty Gull]

Originally Posted by biketrouble

Another "debunking" of the quality I've come to expect from RET participants

Are you arguing that the study WAS scientific? Or, more likely, are you defending it because it suits your municipal agenda.

[SpongeG]

i thought the last bit was funny

Group for new queer centre moves forward

In a lively meeting Nov 3, a working group of 30 community members voted to create a society to begin the work of building a multi-purpose queer community centre in Vancouver.

The impetus for the society’s creation came from entrepreneur and philanthropist David McCann who told the meeting that it was time to move away from talking about the dream of a centre to initiating concrete actions to make it happen.

“I’m not going to waste my time and energy if we’re going to spend another 14 years talking about it,” McCann declared. He said he’d spoken to several “fairly wealthy people in the gay community and elsewhere” about establishing a new centre on a number of occasions.

“Some of us are doing major estate planning and we’re saying, ‘Where’s the money going to go?’ And I think for some of them, they would look at this very favourably,” he said. “But if all you’re going to do is talk about it, they don’t care about that and I don’t either.”

McCann said he’s only interested if people “actually want to get their ass out of a chair” and move forward.

“We’ll worry about what goes in it after we get a lot of money in the bank,” he said.

In the end, a majority voted to establish a society.

McCann then proposed, and won majority approval for, the establishment of a temporary executive tasked with creating the society and registering it with the province.

The 12-person temporary executive now includes McCann, Steven RodRozen, Laura McDiarmid, Seán Cummings, Elaine Miller, Tony Correia, James Beresford, Mo Kazerooni, Kona, Alan Herbert, Sakino Sepulveda, Gerry Kasten.

The temporary executive will report back to the soon-to-be-registered society’s general membership on Dec 8 at a location to be determined.

In another development, RodRozen informed the meeting that Vision Vancouver wants to meet with representatives of the new centre working group and Qmunity to see if there is a possibility of “merging everyone into one discussion” about a new centre. RodRozen said that meeting has been called for Nov 23 at city hall.

City councillor Tim Stevenson told Xtra West Oct 19 that the city is aware that more than one constituency is interested in having a new centre and wants to broker a meeting between the two parties to find a way forward. Up to five people from each party can attend that meeting.

Qmunity executive director Jennifer Breakspear, who attended the Nov 3 meeting, said she was “not there to bring Qmunity” to the new centre working group table but came in the spirit of community to answer questions and share information.

“I do think we’re after some similar goals,” she said, adding that her organization recognizes that what “some people say is a community centre or what they need in a community centre is not what they see at Qmunity,” which provides social services and support programs for the queer community.

“We don’t have a gymnasium, we don’t have a theatre, we never purported to,” she said. “Who knows, maybe there is a place somewhere down the road where Qmunity and this group might work together.”

For his part, McCann says his vision is to “buy that damn site right there at the corner of Burrard and Davie, hire a world-renowned architect” to design a building that will “just make this city finally realize what decent architecture is — and get every gay organization in there.”

http://www.xtra.ca/public/Vancouver/Group_for_new_queer_centre_moves_forward-7844.aspx

[SpongeG]

• Video Link

[biketrouble]

Originally Posted by Rusty Gull

Are you arguing that the study WAS scientific? Or, more likely, are you defending it because it suits your municipal agenda.

I'm saying that if you want to convince anyone that the BTA study is rubbish, you are going to have to do a considerably better job than you have done so far.

And let's just summarize how you've done so far..

Appeal to authority (the geniuses at RET)
Completely bogus claims
Appeal to motive ("your muncipal agenda")

Not so hot for someone accusing others of being unscientific.

[Rusty Gull]

You win... If you're in love with that social engineering report,who am I to complain.

[Rusty Gull]

And why the hate on for Jurock.com?

[biketrouble]

Originally Posted by Rusty Gull

And why the hate on for Jurock.com?

FWIW I read it pretty frequently, and I have gotten some good info there in the past. It's not a bad source of anecdotal material - but the bull versus bears pissing match there is a complete trainwreck.

[raggedy13]

^You two have taken this thread completely off track. Nobody wants to have to sort through your bickering for relevant information of interest. The next off-topic post gets deleted. If you wish to continue your discussion, feel free to private message each other. Thanks for your cooperation.

[jlousa]

Back on topic, well kinda, but this is probably the best thread for this.

2010 Games Preparation:Temporary Removal of Street Furniture

Please note that starting in December 2009, street furniture (primarily litter containers and news boxes) will be temporarily removed from certain areas of the City due to security requirements. This is part of the City's preparation for the 2010 Winter Games, and was requested by the Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit. Additional details are as follows:
Litter containers

Existing litter containers will be removed by CBS Outdoor, the City's street furniture contractor. Temporary litter receptacles will be installed around venues and along major pedestrian corridors by the Sanitation Operations Branch. This work will be coordinated to minimize the time streets remain without litter receptacles.
News boxes

Several free-standing newspaper boxes and multiple publication newsracks will be removed from high-security areas. Where space and the situation permits, they will be relocated nearby in order to continue to serve their readers.
Other street furniture

Some bicycle racks in certain high-security areas may also be temporarily removed. The City will be setting up bike parking stations around competition and celebration venues to encourage people to consider cycling to events.

All of the items that are removed will be returned to their original locations at the conclusion of the Games, in as timely a manner as possible

[Spork]

God damn bicycle terrorists.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by djh

Out of interest, where would you consider a better location? Does the museum really "languish", and if so, is that a result of it's location, or other factors?

I'd like to see VAG move into a re-purposed Main Post Office. Its only a matter of time before Canada Post no longer needs it. The proposed False Creek location is off the beaten tourist track.

As to Coal Harbour Arts Centre, why doesn't the City just buy the underused (Ford) Centre, and buy the adjacent parcel at Homer and Georgia?

[johnjimbc]

I've always liked the idea of using the Canada Post building for some type of arts or cultural facility. It is practically surrounded by other institutions so it seems a more than fitting location. The renovated Playhouse just across the street has always seemed a bit disconnected, yet it's only a block from the library and Performance Arts Centre. Having one more prominent arts facility there would really cement the locations of all the institutions in that area.

For the height enthusiasts, how about using the Patina model? Keep the existing facade entirely (the entire perimeter), but allocate the back 2/3 of the existing building to integrate into the base of a modern super-tall (that's a huge area for constructing a new building).

Aside for the obvious lobby area needed for the highrise, gut and convert the existing footprint and area of the existing building (except perhaps the top offices that sit on top the existing rectangular box structure . . . that should be removed) for a new large art gallery and public space. The lower floors of the new supertall above could even hold the museum offices.

The portion of the facility in front of the tower (above the existing public lobby of the current post office) would overlook Georgia Avenue and have some angled views toward the mountains (particularly if the modern supertall has a curve to it at all). That space could house a modern glass atrium and an outdoor plaza fronting Georgia Avenue. Parts of the atrium and outdoor plaza could house a new museum restaurant.

I think it would provide an incredible urban amenity. Vancouver would get a new arts and cultural centre along the main Georgia Avenue corridor (the city has talked about wanting to add to the prominence of that streetscape on that end), plus a dramatic modern landmark office building for downtown.

Everytime I look at the Canada Post building, that's what I imagine. I think it could be amazing.

[hrhsheba]

Originally Posted by johnjimbc

I've always liked the idea of using the Canada Post building for some type of arts or cultural facility. It is practically surrounded by other institutions so it seems a more than fitting location. The renovated Playhouse just across the street has always seemed a bit disconnected, yet it's only a block from the library and Performance Arts Centre. Having one more prominent arts facility there would really cement the locations of all the institutions in that area.

For the height enthusiasts, how about using the Patina model? Keep the existing facade entirely (the entire perimeter), but allocate the back 2/3 of the existing building to integrate into the base of a modern super-tall (that's a huge area for constructing a new building).

Aside for the obvious lobby area needed for the highrise, gut and convert the existing footprint and area of the existing building (except perhaps the top offices that sit on top the existing rectangular box structure . . . that should be removed) for a new large art gallery and public space. The lower floors of the new supertall above could even hold the museum offices.

The portion of the facility in front of the tower (above the existing public lobby of the current post office) would overlook Georgia Avenue and have some angled views toward the mountains (particularly if the modern supertall has a curve to it at all). That space could house a modern glass atrium and an outdoor plaza fronting Georgia Avenue. Parts of the atrium and outdoor plaza could house a new museum restaurant.

I think it would provide an incredible urban amenity. Vancouver would get a new arts and cultural centre along the main Georgia Avenue corridor (the city has talked about wanting to add to the prominence of that streetscape on that end), plus a dramatic modern landmark office building for downtown.

Everytime I look at the Canada Post building, that's what I imagine. I think it could be amazing.

I agree. Unfortunately, that building, and the land upon which it sits, are doomed to remain entirely stagnant until the federal land claims issue is resolved - so, probably no changes in this lifetime.

[officedweller]

Post Office would make a great museum - large spaces inside including driveways directly into the buildig for loading exhibits...

[Delirium]

"Please note that starting in December 2009, street furniture (primarily litter containers and news boxes) will be temporarily removed from certain areas of the City due to security requirements. This is part of the City's preparation for the 2010 Winter Games, and was requested by the Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit."

hmmm.. i hope this applies to panhandlers too. they take up way more space than a news box - especially when they are lying on the sidewalk with their signs. i wonder if the city will put a temporary ban on this and claim it as a "security requirement"?

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Delirium

hmmm.. i hope this applies to panhandlers too. they take up way more space than a news box - especially when they are lying on the sidewalk with their signs. i wonder if the city will put a temporary ban on this and claim it as a "security requirement"?

Queue the "rounding up the homeless" left-wing conspiracy theories, representing everyone who doesn't live in reality.