320 Granville St |115m | 32Fl | Completed

[officedweller]

From VancouverMarket.ca today:


https://twitter.com/vancouvermrkt

This pic really shows how narrow the 625 Hasting site is.

From the 601 Hasting thread:

Originally Posted by Galaxy

I am still hoping that the owner of the smaller building next to 601 West Hastings sells there building to the Royal Bank. The Royal Bank could then demo that small building and build a building that is a little bigger than its original plan.

I do wonder what's with the delay though on the public hearing side. I imagine if this [625 West Hastings] was a West Bank project it would by now already have a crane on site...

In the meantime, that site is currently being used as a place for parking and trailers for the 320 Granville tower by Bosa.

[mcminsen]

First pic below is from the alley.




March 18 '19, my pics
fullsizeoutput_7335 by mcminsen, on Flickr

fullsizeoutput_7339 by mcminsen, on Flickr

[officedweller]

You can see that Cordova appears to be an elevated road.

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by officedweller

You can see that Cordova appears to be an elevated road.

What do you mean?

[mcminsen]

It doesn't appear to be solid ground underneath Cordova Street. Those holes lead to secret tunnels and caves where monsters lurk.



March 18 '19, my pic

fullsizeoutput_7340 by mcminsen, on Flickr

[officedweller]

Remember a few years ago a lane on Cordova was closed due to subsidence or unstable supports.

http://www.vancouversun.com/Concern+over...ova+Street+with+video/7663847/story.html

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/part-of-cordova-street-closed-over-stability-concerns-1.1070143

[mcminsen]

Here's another pic I took yesterday from Canada Place looking south on Howe Street. The intersection there is Cordova and Howe just one block west of 320 Granville. I've always wondered where the escarpment is.



March 18 '19, my pic

fullsizeoutput_7342 by mcminsen, on Flickr

[officedweller]

The escarpment is on the south side of Cordova.
There may still be a drop off between the road and the old white building shown in the middle of that pic.

This is the same building as in the middle of the shot:


https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/pacific-coast-fire-insurance-building-325-howe-street


https://www.google.com/maps/@49.2865933,...aTM1LMHsZeoWhqKkedIKg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

There's also a drop off to the east along part of Sinclair Centre too.

... and to the west along Cordova behind the former Daon Building:


https://www.google.com/maps/@49.2875924,...1YvMDoYr32hfYI3CtZyVg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[mcminsen]

Wow... thanks for that pic. So, the bottom three storeys of that building are under Cordova Street now. It would be fascinating to go down there.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Wow... thanks for that pic. So, the bottom three storeys of that building are under Cordova Street now. It would be fascinating to go down there.

Yes - if you stand by the railing there you can hear the SkyTrain going past underneath the road. Here's another view of the same Howe Street building [from Changing Vancouver]

and the one posted before [source]





and here's the top of same escarpment where the Sinclair Centre is today [same blog]. You'll see that post has a picture of houses along the cliff top, before the office buildings replaced them.

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

It doesn't appear to be solid ground underneath Cordova Street. Those holes lead to secret tunnels and caves where monsters lurk.

That's partially true! There are several old tunnels under downtown.

The most well-known is former CPR tunnel, now used by SkyTrain. Here's the original tunnel portal at ground level at Cordova & Waterfront:


1930 – 1933, CPR Dunsmuir Tunnel Western outlet at Cordova/Waterfront
Archives Item#: CVA 152-6.11.1 Source

The tunnel ended beside the Seaforth Armoury.


1930 – 1933, CPR Dunsmuir Tunnel eastern outlet at False Creek (where the viaduct runs overhead today)
Archives Item#: CVA 152-6.12 Source

There was also a mail tunnel between the Canada Post building and the CPR Railway Station (Waterfront Station).

Photo: Photo courtesy VPL 40568 / Photographer Studio: Province Newspaper Source



There was also a tunnel between Sinclair Centre and what's now Waterfront Centre. Sinclair Centre once housed customs facilities and the tunnel was used to securely transport high-value goods in bond between to and from the pier that's now Canada Place. I can't find any pictures, unfortunately.

That's all of them as far as I know. There have been rumours for years that there are tunnels under Chinatown, but to the best of my knowledge those are actually connected basements and passages beneath alleys, such as the one found in Army and Navy, and not true tunnels.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Wow... thanks for that pic. So, the bottom three storeys of that building are under Cordova Street now. It would be fascinating to go down there.

It's easy to go down there and explore: just follow the rabbit into this hole.....It's a wonderland down there

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.2879861,...5O-iAWZ8nK_QyrmgQUNgg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656


In the wonderland:

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.2876047,...Il0VWFnS4-wILHookCu-A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[mcminsen]

Thanks all. I knew a little bit about this but it will make me think differently about this area when I'm going through there now.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

there is also the BC Te; tunnel down Seymour St as well. built in the 1970s.

[Henbo]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

First pic below is from the alley.

March 18 '19, my pics
fullsizeoutput_7335 by mcminsen, on Flickr

How close is the side of this site to the Canada Line station?

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by Henbo

How close is the side of this site to the Canada Line station?

Good question, I never thought about that. I would say it's pretty close. It'll be interesting as this excavation gets really deep. I hope I can get into that alley again to get some more shots from that angle.

[officedweller]

Looks like there's a few feet of separation.
Remember, Canada Line has really shallow stations, so they're already beside the station in depth.


http://canadalinephotos.blogspot.com/sea...0Z&max-results=20&start=49&by-date=false

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Thanks all. I knew a little bit about this but it will make me think differently about this area when I'm going through there now.

There's a whole world down there. Happy to give anyone a tour down there if you're brave enough to venture down... it's a dark and uninviting place.

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

There's a whole world down there. Happy to give anyone a tour down there if you're brave enough to venture down... it's a dark and uninviting place.

Yes! I'm totally down to see whats down there, there's not many people in this city who are willing to do some urban exploration with all the crazies and homeless. Toronto suburbs were great for urban exploration, so many open and vacant buildings and random old infrastructure

I'm serious, lets go!

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

There's a whole world down there. Happy to give anyone a tour down there if you're brave enough to venture down... it's a dark and uninviting place.

sounds very cool. probably cooler than the Seymour tunnel.