725 replies to this topic

[G-Man]

Awesome find Aastra. I walk by this every day and have often wondered about it. The Lim Bang building in Chinatown is one of my favourites but didn't know of this connection.

[aastra]

Were you aware the Douglas Hotel was also one of his buildings?

[G-Man]

This may have been deep in a file somewhere in my brain but thanks for resurfacing it.

[aastra]

South downtown has been ruined by all of the new buildings:

 

pic from City of Victoria archives...

 

[Ismo07]

South downtown has been ruined by all of the new buildings:

pic from City of Victoria archives...

 

Those houses on Penwill are amazing... 

Edited by Ismo07, 16 February 2024 - 01:26 PM.

[aastra]

There was some great stuff before the parking lots wiped everything out, for sure. There was even a baseball stadium down there. But that was back in the old old days, many years before the good old days.

 

I wish some of the post-1950 apartment buildings in Victoria's neighbourhoods had stuck with the more urban flavour of the old apartment buildings, instead of going whole-hog with suburban styles and big setbacks.

 

For example, this building on Burdett (left side of the pic), this building on Humboldt, this building at Kings and Douglas, this building at Government and Bay, etc.

There are still some surviving examples around town, of course. It's a bit of a miracle that Fernwood at Gladstone survived the purge. But it's interesting to ponder what Victoria would be like today not just if the old stuff had been preserved but also if the newer stuff hadn't reversed course so starkly.

Edited by aastra, 16 February 2024 - 12:35 PM.

[Nparker]

South downtown has been ruined by all of the new buildings...

[IPH]

There was some great stuff before the parking lots wiped everything out, for sure. There was even a baseball stadium down there. But that was back in the old old days, many years before the good old days.

 

I wish some of the post-1950 apartment buildings in Victoria's neighbourhoods had stuck with the more urban flavour of the old apartment buildings, instead of going whole-hog with suburban styles and big setbacks.

 

For example, this building on Burdett (left side of the pic), this building on Humboldt, this building at Kings and Douglas, this building at Government and Bay, etc.

There are still some surviving examples around town, of course. It's a bit of a miracle that Fernwood at Gladstone survived the purge. But it's interesting to ponder what Victoria would be like today not just if the old stuff had been preserved but also if the newer stuff hadn't reversed course so starkly.

The Building next to 1162 Burdett (left side of picture) is actually the old dormitory for the Collegiate School for Boys (1903-1912) and/or St Georges School for Girls (1912-1928).  The school its self was located in the Laurel's building on Rockland at Langham Court.  

[aastra]

Any pics of the front of that Burdett residences building?

[IPH]

Unfortunately no Pictures that I can find.  Bill Murphy (old owner of Vintage Woodworks) told me years ago that he pulled samples of all the trim, spindles, handrails etc. out of the building as well as 3 or 4 other houses on the north side of Burdett when they were torn down before Chateauneuf was built on Rockland.  

[Vin]

South downtown has been ruined by all of the new buildings:

 

pic from City of Victoria archives...

 

Any pic to show how the area looked before many of the older buildings were pulled down to make way for these ugly parking lots from the 60s to the 80s? Even though the area immediately across Douglas from the Empress was not all higher density back then, some of them deserved to be preserved and to have Old Town expanded, instead of the area cleared to cater for more automobiles, only to be compensated by the new "talls" today.

 

Zoom in to see the beautiful buildings in this area before they were destroyed here, including those along Douglas and other areas of Old Town:

https://vintageairph...com/bo-47-1451/

https://vintageairph...com/bo-47-1450/

Edited by Vin, 22 February 2024 - 12:54 PM.

[aastra]

 

Any pic to show how the area looked before...

 

We've seen these pics of the old baseball stadium before on here. If an ostentatious new building replaces precious downtown green space -- and if the precious downtown green space was a baseball diamond and the ostentatious new building was the Crystal Garden -- should we be sad or happy or neither?

 

Baseball game on opening day of the Victoria memorial stadium (St. Ann's Academy at background left)

 

Baseball game on opening day of the Victoria memorial stadium...

 

Baseball game on opening day of the Victoria memorial stadium (Empress Hotel in background)
 

Baseball game on opening day of the Victoria memorial stadium (Royal Theatre and old Christ Church Cathedral in background)

 

Baseball field where Crystal Garden is now...

Edited by aastra, 22 February 2024 - 01:00 PM.

[aastra]

 

If an ostentatious new building replaces precious downtown green space -- and if the precious downtown green space was a baseball diamond...

 

Of course, prior to 1920 the vibe in that area was probably more like the Royal Athletic Park area today than downtown proper.

[aastra]

~1960 and still no proper sidewalk on Penwell Street...

[aastra]

Wood cart on Humboldt Street...

[aastra]

Demolition of the White Horse Saloon building circa 1960...

 

I believe that would be the old Savoy apartments on the right side of the pic.
 

 

Daily Colonist
May 29, 1973

Blanshard Plan Will Close Era

Stompin' At the Savoy Was High-Living in Victoria 60 Years Ago

Savoy Mansions at Blanshard and McClure, the ultimate in fashionable apartment living 60 years ago, will be demolished some time next month.

The property... has been purchased by the City of Victoria...

The building... will be torn down to make room for the realignment of Blanshard...

...Blanshard will be brought in line with Belleville. Eventually the city hopes to reroute traffic from the legislative precinct via the Belleville-Blanshard route from downtown to the city's outskirts.

Completion of this route is considered essential to the creation of downtown pedestrian malls.

Savoy Mansions were built during the Victoria landboom between 1908 and 1913... the apartment building was considered "quite the modern thing" in those days.

"Over the years, many well-to-do Victorians lived in the Savoy Mansions,"

...it was a pity the building has to give way to traffic efficiency.

"In the past few years, mostly elderly people have lived there. They just loved to be near downtown, near the Inner Harbor, near the movie theatres and transportation facilities..."

Edited by aastra, 22 February 2024 - 01:13 PM.

[Mike K.]

Have we ever done a deep dive on why so many properties became surface parking lots?

[Nparker]

Have we ever done a deep dive on why so many properties became surface parking lots?

Fewer costs and lower property taxes on a parking lot than a 50 year old building?

[Mike K.]

Certainly if the buildings were empty, and unleasable. And/or dilapidated. People are methodical, they tend to make the best decisions when their own money is at stake.

[Nparker]

...People are methodical, they tend to make the best decisions when their own money is at stake.

And some of the worst decisions when it is other people's money at stake. One need look no further for proof of this than the obscene federal Liberal and provincial NDP spending over the past 6-9 years.