[Downtown Victoria] View Towers | 19-storeys | Built in 1960's
#21
Posted 27 February 2008 - 12:28 PM
(m0nkeyman photo)
#22
Posted 08 April 2008 - 07:54 AM
#23
Posted 08 April 2008 - 08:06 AM
I was told that the original design for View Towers called for much of the exterior to be clad in brick and that this feature was scrapped after the developer's feud with the City.
I have also heard this. What a difference this might have made. I know many think the paint jop of 10 years or so ago made a big difference, but ugly paint on an ugly building had little impact to me.
#24
Posted 17 July 2008 - 06:38 PM
View Towers draws criticism, criminals
Carla Wilson. Times - Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Jan 7, 1995. pg. 1
(Copyright Times Colonist (Victoria) 1995)
It was meant to provide a home for people who couldn't afford much.
Instead, View Towers has attracted criminals and endless criticism since it was built more than 20 years ago with federal help.
The 19-storey concrete highrise has been in the news of late after drug dealer Samir Bithyoon Shamoon was killed this week in a shooting in a View Towers apartment. Thursday, an 89-year-old resident jumped to his death from the 19th floor.
Police visits to View Towers are routine; they say it's the busiest site in the city next to the "kick-ass nightclubs." But making headlines is nothing new for the building at the corner of Quadra and View streets, described Friday as the "most ugly building imaginable," by former Victoria mayor Peter Pollen.
[...]
#25
Posted 17 July 2008 - 06:57 PM
#26
Posted 17 July 2008 - 08:30 PM
Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.
#27
Posted 17 July 2008 - 10:29 PM
In 1972, that property was not an "intolerable mess," unless perhaps you were used to OB/Uplands criteria. I knew people who lived in that building in 1973 through 1975 -- it wasn't bad.In November 1972, the city issued the first ultimatum to clean up what Pollen then described as an "intolerable" mess on the site.
I'd add that anybody who enters politics because of an aesthetic crusade has to have something not quite in perspective:
(An aside: Tell you what, Mr. Pollen: looking around today and seeing scores of homeless people without an apartment to call home -- even one as "ghastly" as View Towers -- is in my opinion aesthetically far more offensive.)View Towers was a motivating factor in Pollen's decision to enter civic politics. "It was one of the most ghastly developments I had ever seen," Pollen said.
'Nuff said...Pollen said View Towers may provide low-cost housing, "but at what sociological cost?"
Bent over backwards, except for letting Mulek derive any profit from his property? Eight storeys... how very generous... <irony alert>"We bent over backwards to accommodate the guy," said Pollen, who was prepared to accept a project of about eight storeys.
Don't get me wrong -- from what I've heard, I'm pretty sure this Mulek guy acted like a mule and was far from an angel.
And I'm sure glad we don't have a bunch of these buildings all over town, a la Edmonton and other siberian cities (in Canada and Siberia).
But jeepers, I can't imagine it would have been much fun getting anything done with persnickety aesthetes who get their noses out of joint so easily (Pollen). I mean, look at his letters to the editor to this date: they're almost always about how something will "ruin" the look of Victoria, with nary a thought given to economic development, etc. I don't have time for that, frankly -- there has to be something more serious than appearances to running a city and guiding it to a sustainable future.
#28
Posted 18 July 2008 - 11:04 AM
In 1972, that property was not an "intolerable mess," unless perhaps you were used to OB/Uplands criteria.
He could have been referring to the Quadra/Fort corner. I don't know what is was in the 70s but in the 80s it was the remnants of a slab foundation covered in broken tiles. I believe it was the remains of a garage or car dealership.
#29
Posted 18 July 2008 - 05:35 PM
Maybe both. Can't remember.
#30
Posted 18 July 2008 - 06:07 PM
#31
Posted 26 March 2009 - 07:16 PM
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#32
Posted 27 March 2009 - 08:36 AM
Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.
#33
Posted 27 March 2009 - 09:10 AM
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#35
Posted 27 August 2009 - 09:51 PM
First Alert smoke alarms. First Alert. For What Matters Most™
and
Febreze. It's A Breath Of Fresh Air™
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#36
Posted 28 August 2009 - 11:40 AM
#37
Posted 14 April 2012 - 04:35 PM
http://cfax1070.com/...news&Itemid=155
A suite on the ninth floor of the View Towers apartment block is uninhabitable after a fire Saturday morning.
Smoke was coming out of the balcony window when crews arrived around 10:20. They contained the fire to the suite and put it out. The two occupants of the unit had gotten out safely before fire fighters arrived and did not go to hospital. One of the occupants spoke to reporters outside the building and said she was OK.
[...]
Victoria current weather by neighbourhood: Victoria school-based weather station network
Victoria webcams: Big Wave Dave Webcams
#38
Posted 14 April 2012 - 04:48 PM
Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.
#39
Posted 14 April 2012 - 04:51 PM
#40
Posted 14 April 2012 - 04:58 PM
Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.
Use the page links at the lower-left to go to the next page to read additional posts.
0 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users