8289 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

OMG! That colour is beyond hideous.  Somebody needs to bring in a sandblaster stat.

[Mike K.]

Lots of shelving and lighting along the wall makes me think it'll be a retail store of some kind. And yeah, it was a Rogers store one upon a time.

[aastra]

What's wrong with the colour? That part of Douglas needs a generous helping of some funky colour schemes. In this case I'd say it makes that little patch of modern brickwork look less 1970s-ish (or whenever it was done). Many times I've noted how Victorians seem to be hesitant to paint over modern brickwork. I give them a point for doing it.

 

Now just gussy up every old building on that block of Douglas. Unique colour scheme for each. It would be huge.

[aastra]

Just imagine a full restoration of that place, arched entrance on the Yates side and everything:

http://search-bcarch...-yates-victoria

 

[VicHockeyFan]

What's wrong with the colour? That part of Douglas needs a generous helping of some funky colour schemes. In this case I'd say it makes that little patch of modern brickwork look less 1970s-ish (or whenever it was done). Many times I've noted how Victorians seem to be hesitant to paint over modern brickwork. I give them a point for doing it.

Now just gussy up every old building on that block of Douglas. Unique colour scheme for each. It would be huge.

I agree. Everyone loves that street in St. John's.

Edited by VicHockeyFan, 01 August 2017 - 01:07 PM.

[Nparker]

...That part of Douglas needs a generous helping of some funky colour schemes...Now just gussy up every old building on that block of Douglas. Unique colour scheme for each. It would be huge.

Noooooooooooooooooooo! It would be the nightmare that is the Douglas/Yates puzzle pieces writ large!

IMO, Douglas Street would be best served if almost everything from Herald to View Street (west side*) and Johnson to View (east side**) were knocked down and replaced with well-designed, contemporary architecture. No more Bay Centre faux-heritage, please! Save the funky colour schemes for "LoJo" and Chinatown.

* original City Hall & the Rialto Hotel can stay
** Bank of Montreal can stay

 

[aastra]

That would be unforgivable. Post-1945 Victoria has tried the "raze everything and start from scratch" method too many times already. Why not shift gears and try preserving and restoring stuff? Why not try mixing new stuff right in with older stuff? Didn't the mixin' method work beautifully re: the Janion? Let's see if maybe it can work in other places, too. Victoria never seems to want to learn anything from its own successes and failures.

 

If anybody ever tries to knock down this block of buildings on Douglas I'll be there with my official VV megaphone giving them hell for it.

[Jackerbie]

There's an active Building Permit for 1300-1306 Douglas Street, for interior renovations for a coffee shop. 1306 Douglas was the Rogers store.

[Nparker]

...Why not shift gears and try preserving and restoring stuff? ...

You mean like:

• Old Town
• Broad Street
• Government Street
• Chinatown
• Wharf Street

I don't want to live in a museum. Let's create some great contemporary architecture that the residents of the future may want to preserve.

[aastra]

You must be pulling my chain. Hear you nothing that I say? Government Street and Broad Street got roasted. Mere shadows of their former selves. Wharf Street has some significant losses but it fared better than Government or Broad. Chinatown did okay but it's nothing close to a museum (how easily we forget the controversies re: the Union or the CRD building or Mermaid Wharf, etc., not to mention Centennial Square).

 

This "living in a museum" thing might just be the worst canard related to Victoria's development scene. The city has knocked stuff down without blinking an eye, time and time again. Do museums have bonfires regularly to eliminate some invaluable part of their collections?

 

And anyway, what difference does it make what happened on some other street? A house in Rockland was preserved, therefore a building at Douglas & Yates should be demolished?

 

The key point here is this: you can build good new stuff without destroying beautiful old stuff. You aren't obliged to destroy beautiful old stuff just because you want good new stuff. And preserving/restoring beautiful old stuff doesn't preclude good new stuff from happening. The buildings of different eras are NOT necessarily at odds with one another. They can co-exist. When they're allowed to co-exist the result tends to be a rich and interesting city.

[Jackerbie]

^ One topic is enough for this debate, don't you think? To bring it back around, 1306 Douglas appears to be being renovated for a coffee shop. Although I guess that news is better suited for "Food Services Comings and Goings" 

[Nparker]

...The key point here is this: you can build good new stuff without destroying beautiful old stuff. ...

My key point: there is NO beautiful old stuff on Douglas Street except for the few buildings I mentioned earlier that are worth preserving.

 

ps: mods feel free to move discussions about architectural preservation to a more appropriate thread

Edited by Nparker, 01 August 2017 - 03:46 PM.

[aastra]

 

My key point: there is NO beautiful old stuff on Douglas Street...

 

You win. Nothing beats the "Victoria sucks" card.

[Nparker]

You win. Nothing beats the "Victoria sucks" card.

Yeah that's LITERALLY what I said.

[aastra]

I thought you said there was an excessive amount of well-preserved 19th-century architecture and it was becoming a serious livability issue?

[Kapten Kapsell]

The T-C is reporting that Albion Fisheries is closing its distribution centre in the 700 block of Tyee Road and laying off the staff there.  Going forward they will be doing their distribution to Vancouver Island from Richmond in the Lower Mainland.

[Mike K.]

That area is ripe for redevelopment into high-density residential buildings.

[Kapten Kapsell]

That area is ripe for redevelopment into high-density residential buildings.

Agreed... the corner of Bay and Tyee is home to a surface lot used for vehicle inventory storage by Jim Pattison Toyota. 

[spanky123]

That area is ripe for redevelopment into high-density residential buildings.

 

After a few million dollars in remediation costs no doubt.

[thundergun]

Does anyone know what the Albion site zoned for?

And why the remediation costs - does fish processing have earth contamination problems like gas stations, or was there something heavy industrial there before?