Quote:
Originally Posted by officedweller
I don't think that historically, it was a special site in Chinatown, was it?
I think it has only become a special site because of the open space provided by the plaza,
which is a result of the diversion of Keefer St., the monument and the garden and traditional building to the west.
The site is across the street from a massive parkade.
If the site had been of special significance, surely, the community would never have allowed a parkade to be built there.
... and remember, that the downtown streetcar is slated to plow right through that area on Columbia St. headed to Gastown.
Will that be allowed?
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AFAIK, it originally was the site of a gas station, then a parking lot.
It has gained prominence as many see it as a 'gateway' into Chinatown and close to significant sites such as the Chinese cultural centre, the sun yat sen gardens and the monument. It also gets a lot of sun as it is south facing and andy livingston park opens up the space.
The prior process seems to me that many in the city and Chinatown weren't sure on how to increase development without adverse effects. Other
commentators also note conflict and give the idea that this is an ongoing work in progress. (the link is a pretty good one that goes into more detail)
Quote:
During the City of Vancouver’s 2010 Historic Area Height Review for Chinatown, these sites (except for the Main St one) or its adjacent sites were even designated as Higher Building Sites that can take additional height to 150ft whereas the surrounding buildings be as high 70ft or 120ft depending on the zone. The City’s report called these potential higher buildings “markers” for Chinatown. In Appendix E of the HAHR report, it states:
The following factors were used in identifying potential locations for the three additional higher building sites in the Historic Area:
•Highlight street structure features, such as: termination of street views, convergence of street grid change, important intersections;
•Opportunities to better identify a major corridor, boundary or gateway;
•Recognize nodes of high activity.
Essentially, the gateways of Chinatown were simply regarded as traffic thoroughfares that should be “marked” by higher buildings. Almost 64% of City survey respondents and the Urban Design Panel (UDP) expressed strong concern over this treatment of the gateways. The City’s report states that respondents said:
[I]t was inappropriate to mark historic and culturally significant locations with tall buildings. This sentiment was reaffirmed in a meeting with the UDP who also felt that it was inappropriate to mark places of importance with height. Some considered this typology of building as being insensitive to the culture and history of the area, thereby presenting a challenge to maintaining its rich heritage qualities.
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even if the most recent beedie proposal was within zoning guidelines (after 4 attempts of trying to upzone it), the argument is that maybe we should really rethink the whole Columbia/keefer area.
link. even the janky mandarin centre i suppose was better than this. the demolition of the coal-gas plant is to the left. the lot in question has the 'Texaco' service station.
link. I really see a lot of potential for public space here. I can see why the city is considering obtaining the lot.
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