Imagine the corner of Carrall and Hastings in the 1920s.
At the B.C. Electric Railway headquarters (foreground on right), interurban trains were arriving from places as far away as Chilliwack and Steveston. From here, passengers could immediately transfer to a streetcar on Hastings that would connect them to any part of the city.
Down the street was City Hall, located in the Holden Building (centre left), one of the tallest towers in Vancouver.
Across the street: the Beaux-Arts Merchant’s Bank building. Up the street: the city’s premier department store, Woodward’s.
At the centre: the Hotel Pennsylvania.
Previously known as The Woods, the hotel must have been a place to meet, for business and pleasure.
And none who passed through this intersection could ever imagine how dramatically it would decline in the later decades of their century. Just as we today are sceptical of the possibilities of change for the better in the Downtown East Side.
In fact many are fearful of any sign of improvement, concerned that gentrification will displace the most vulnerable. In the stratified politics of Vancouver, that’s often why change is only embraced when the Left sees benefit. So it was that COPE (later Vision) councillor Jim Green, who justifiably deserves the credit for the Woodward’s project, provided the catalyst for change that will transform this neighbourhood in the next few years.
And yesterday, another sign of that change was lit.
The opening of 44 units for the homeless or at risk marked the end of a long journey for those in the Portland Hotel Society who struggled to transform a dismal, dangerous SRO into something of pride and hope for the Downtown East Side. (That’s Tom Laviolet of the Portland Hotel Society at the window. The “Portland Hotel” was another name this building has known, preceded by “The Rainbow”.) More here.
The hotel has been wonderfully restored, including the turret at top and a replica for the sign that punctuates the corner with a touch of neon:
But credit also to the City for extending the corner sidewalk and adding a gentle curve to Hastings where it bends:
And for allowing a replacement of the areaways underneath the Carrall Street sidewalk, including the glass tiles lit from below:
And to those who doubt this intersection will regain its vitality, just wait. As the Carrall Street greenway is completed, as the streetcar is extended through the neighbourhood, as social housing projects replace the SROs, as more residents and businesses are welcome, the Pennsylvania will once again become the place to meet.
It’s nice to see the building get renovated and fixed up, but the same amount of money could have provided twice the number of social housing units if this was done in the suburbs. Why is so much talk about providing social housing focused on having it located in the downtown eastside? Why don’t I ever hear about groups campaigning to provide social housing in Abbotsford or Langley?
Just because the downtown east side has been a poverty ghetto for decades, doesn’t mean it needs to stay that way. Spread the poverty around a little, don’t concentrate it all in one area just because that’s where it happens to be at the moment.
Tom – I don’t think your cost for the suburbs adequately reflects what the total cost would be. There are all sorts of networks of people downtown (just on the governmental side) that would have to be moved or established in the burbs.
Plus, of course, the wishes of the people themselves and all of their personal social networks should be considered.
Price said…”In fact many are fearful of any sign of improvement, concerned that gentrification will displace the most vulnerable. In the stratified politics of Vancouver, that’s often why change is only embraced when the Left sees benefit.”…
To which I add the same can be said about the intransigence of those on the “right”(I hate labels).In fact much of the good stuff that is happening on the DTES (such as the re-opening of the Penn) is due to decades of struggle.
It was this struggle that final convinced many former opponents to recognize the rights of the poor and homeless of the DTES.Indeed with out the years of agitation would the multi-dimensional changes that recognizes/takes into account the rights of the poor,addicted,the disabled etc be happening in the DTES ?
This is not to say the “left” (I hate labels)was not without fault and visa versa.Anyway just my thoughts nothing more nothing less.
Respecting the wishes of those who will be using the housing is a good point, Gordon, and I think that’s an argument for why there needs to be more supportive housing in some of the burbs, as well as downtown. Fact is many people grow up in those neighbourhoods and I’m sure would like to live there.
Still, there is a wonderfully strong community in the DTES among many people who live there, and that isn’t something that should be overlooked.
Still, beautiful building, great restoration job, and I especially love the neon sign. It sings. This is certain to help bring that block alive in the coming years, and I for one am certain that the neighbourhood will continue to feel more and more like a complete community.
Over at francesbula.com, the skinny is that this restoration cost on the order of $375k/unit! If we follow this model in building social housing, there are going to be more homeless people in the future…..
There’s a very high cost associated with renovating historic buildings to bring them up to building codes. Even private developers can’t make the financials work (at exhorbitant condo selling prices) without the City’s incentive programs. While this is a showcase project, hopefully there will be more projects that provide better “bang for the buck”, after all, the goal is to provide decent housing, not swanky housing, and if the same money can be used to house greater numbers, which makes more sense?
Love the building. Love the sign. But I do wonder, at that price, do the units come with granite counter tops and Kohler sinks?
…I guess we can all dream.
Still remember ON THE CORNER and i think it’s a great thing