The Georgia | 157m | 48 fl | Completed

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Yep, the restrained classicism of the Hotel Georgia would have been nicely set off by the riotous Edwardian architecture of Hotel Vancouver II. Check out the terracotta moose and elk heads:



Vancouver Archives-public domain.

I see the Moose, but not the elk.

I do see some Bison (aka Buffalo) however ....

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by SpikePhanta

This is the second hotel Vancouver, the one where TD tower is now

The one standing today is the third hotel Vancouver.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I wonder what the FIRST Hotel Vancouver was like?? Rustic, no doubt.

[Locked In]

My photo, today:


Full Size

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by Canadian Mind

That looks cool... That used to be in our city???

Wish city-builders back then were more creative. At the very least that could have been a nice facade for a skyscraper podium. Ohwell.

The 2nd hotel Vancouver was torn down because a) it was more lavish than the 3rd hotel, so the owners feared competition if they sold it off and b) was being squatted in by WWII veterans. After they tore it down it was a surface parking lot for 20 years.

This is one of the only representations of the first hotel I could find.


Source: http://illustratedvancouver.ca/ via google image search.

[itinerant]

Here's a photographic version of Hotel Vancouver No. 1 from the Major Matthews collection at the City of Vancouver Archives:


Hotel Vancouver circa 1889, Major Matthews Collection, City of Vancouver Archives, Item Number Hot P64

[logan5]

Originally Posted by itinerant

Here's a photographic version of Hotel Vancouver No. 1 from the Major Matthews collection at the City of Vancouver Archives:


Hotel Vancouver circa 1889, Major Matthews Collection, City of Vancouver Archives, Item Number Hot P64

Has somebody mentioned where this was located?

[itinerant]

Originally Posted by logan5

Has somebody mentioned where this was located?

Same location as Hotel Vancouver #2 (SW corner of Georgia and Granville).

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

The 2nd hotel Vancouver was torn down because a) it was more lavish than the 3rd hotel, so the owners feared competition if they sold it off ...

Apparently the 3rd (current) Hotel Vancouver originally had art moderne interiors, despite the chateau roof.

Interior shots:

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_83/g_05449.gif

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_83/g_05450.gif

BTW - I think the 2nd Hotel Vancouver was built piecemeal - this shot shows in the foreground an annex to the 1st hotel that remained attached to the 2nd hotel (I think the second was built on the site of the 1st hotel, seen in the background of this shot) - which also explains why that central core was exposed on the 2nd hotel (it was never completed/covered with a corresponding wing facing the court house).

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_124/d_09195.gif

Compare:
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_147/h_01267.gif

So back in the day, the hoteliers weren't satisfied with an evolving building built up over the years - but must have had an edifice complex...

[whatnext]

Sorry, I didn't mean to start a hijack of the Georgia thread with a history of the Hotel Vancouver, so I put it in a photo thread for those who are interested HERE

[vanman]

And it looks like we have a winner:

Delirium posted this incredible pic in the Canada section. Vancouver is really starting to look very futuristic.

Originally Posted by Delirium

by Clayton Perry Photoworks http://www.flickr.com/photos/claytonperry/5462686008/lightbox/

[logan5]

Perfection.

[Phil McAvity]

^yeah, great shot, and the weirdest thing is, it doesn't look like it was shot from the Harbour Centre.

I can see eight skyscrapers in that picture that i'm pretty sure didn't exist just a decade ago so how's that for a building boom?

[trofirhen]

I look forward to the day when I can afford another trip home, preferably during the spring or summer, and just stroll the downtown streets, looking at the buildings, taking in the new ambience, admiring the views, stopping for a cappucino, sitting on a bench by Lost Lagoon, the fountain spouting, the breeze in my face carrying wafts of fountain mist ........

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Apparently the 3rd (current) Hotel Vancouver originally had art moderne interiors, despite the chateau roof.

Interior shots:

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_83/g_05449.gif

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_83/g_05450.gif

BTW - I think the 2nd Hotel Vancouver was built piecemeal - this shot shows in the foreground an annex to the 1st hotel that remained attached to the 2nd hotel (I think the second was built on the site of the 1st hotel, seen in the background of this shot) - which also explains why that central core was exposed on the 2nd hotel (it was never completed/covered with a corresponding wing facing the court house).

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_124/d_09195.gif

Compare:
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_147/h_01267.gif

So back in the day, the hoteliers weren't satisfied with an evolving building built up over the years - but must have had an edifice complex...

It wouldn't surprise me if it was built in sections. The Empress in Victoria was, but I wouldn't hold that against it. But the Third Hotel was also a make work project for the depression, so just wanting a complete hotel in one shot wasn't the only motivation; getting a new modern hotel partially built by the government was too.

But the second hotel Vancouver had an equally amazing interior. Maybe even a bit more ornate and opulent compared to the "contemporary" (at the time) interior of the third.

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_102/b_00163.gif

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_102/b_00168.gif

So, if it was left standing as a hotel under other management, it could have been serious competition. And at the time, the owners felt there wasn't enough demand for 2 hotels, so losing any customers to another high end hotel could be devastating to the bottom line.

But I can't help but wonder what that corner would be like today with that hotel still there across from the Court house with the Third Hotel across from that, and the restored Georgia kitty corner. Throw in the Birks building and the Bay and it would have been an amazing historical strip of Georgia in the downtown. The mall is a big part of Downtown, and an amazing project in it's own right, but I think I would rather have the old Hotel than the Sears.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Apparently the 3rd (current) Hotel Vancouver originally had art moderne interiors, despite the chateau roof.

Interior shots:

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_83/g_05449.gif

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_83/g_05450.gif

BTW - I think the 2nd Hotel Vancouver was built piecemeal - this shot shows in the foreground an annex to the 1st hotel that remained attached to the 2nd hotel (I think the second was built on the site of the 1st hotel, seen in the background of this shot) - which also explains why that central core was exposed on the 2nd hotel (it was never completed/covered with a corresponding wing facing the court house).

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_124/d_09195.gif

Compare:
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_147/h_01267.gif

So back in the day, the hoteliers weren't satisfied with an evolving building built up over the years - but must have had an edifice complex...

Looking at the two photos showing the west "Rattenbury" building on Howe St, it appears that this wing was built in two stages. The facades along Howe St appear similar, but the roof lines are quite different.


I wouldn't be surprised if by the mid-1920s someone in the CPR wasn't happy the the jumble of connected buildings that made up the Granville / Georgia CPR Hotel and decided to have the 'chateau' hotel on Burrard / Georgia built to replace it.

Corporations can have vanity too.

[jlousa]

Okay I've cleaned up the thread, lets move on and back onto topic. Cheers.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

But I can't help but wonder what that corner would be like today with that hotel still there across from the Court house with the Third Hotel across from that, and the restored Georgia kitty corner. Throw in the Birks building and the Bay and it would have been an amazing historical strip of Georgia in the downtown. The mall is a big part of Downtown, and an amazing project in it's own right, but I think I would rather have the old Hotel than the Sears.

My guess is that the Georgia Hotel would have seen the wrecking ball.

[dleung]

I'm digging the black strips. The royal blue spandrel on the other hand, is way too close to the colour of Justin Bieber's hoodie...

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

I look forward to the day when I can afford another trip home, preferably during the spring or summer, and just stroll the downtown streets, looking at the buildings, taking in the new ambience, admiring the views, stopping for a cappucino, sitting on a bench by Lost Lagoon, the fountain spouting, the breeze in my face carrying wafts of fountain mist ........

the racoons attacking you for food, seeing a skunk and needing to run away

[officedweller]

The dark blue/black stripes look good from the street.
The panels around them however, still look patchy in terms of colouration (especially from TD Tower).

The flanking lighter blue parts - I'm not sure if they are "weighty" enough to anchor the corners
- i.e. would dark gray precast with punched out windows have looked better?
But them you're approaching the typical downtown South /Yaletown painted concrete architype.