STAY CONNECTED TO VIBRANTVICTORIA
WHAT'S HAPPENING ON CITIFIED VICTORIA
You know, this whole narrative really doesn't stand up to any scrutiny. The main points that are repeated over and over are:
1) Victoria was/is a small backwater town, and
2) Victoria was/is constantly under pressure to replace historic buildings with skyscrapers, but
3) Noble efforts to resist the pressure (in combination with geographic/economic quirks) have ultimately safeguarded and preserved old Victoria as it was
Seriously, why would a small backwater place ever be under pressure to build skyscrapers? There are major problems with the entire premise. But even if we accept the premise, what do we make of the following?
Victoria’s skyline survived the bulldoze-and-rebuild decade unscathed...
Other Canadian cities fared less well. The ’70s race toward the future saw heritage buildings elsewhere razed. In many cities, streets of 19th-century low- and mid-rise structures built of sandstone or brick and dressed up with carvings and character became, first, piles of rubble and dust, then sites of sky-high symbols of corporate achievement.
Victoria's character buildings survived the bulldoze-and-rebuild era unscathed? Is this a joke? The author would probably be very surprised to learn that all of the following Victorian buildings were either demolished outright or endured horrendous modernizations from the 1940s through to the 1970s. And all of this carnage occurred even though the prospect of building skyscrapers was never really on the table. Many of these buildings were replaced by less impressive/smaller buildings and/or surface parking lots. It's almost as if the skyscraper menace wasn't the real menace at all, you think?
When you get right down to it we're patting ourselves on the back for doing absolutely nothing. A priceless collection of historic buildings was lost and yet we're twisting it into some sort of triumph because no skyscrapers were built, even though nobody was making any serious effort to build skyscrapers in the first place. Meanwhile, that priceless collection of lost buildings remains lost. Heck, if we herald this disaster as a victory then I really have to wonder what defeat might have looked like.
Gone, gone, gone, they've been gone so long... (and this is only a partial list)
Brunswick Hotel:
Campbell Building:
Hotel Vernon/Woolworth's:
Yates/Wharf:
Clarence Hotel:
Balmoral Hotel:
Metropolis Hotel:
The Wilson/Gordon Hotel:
Colonist Building:
Adelphi Building et al (priceless streetscape, all gone):
Imperial Bank:
Jones Building:
Victoria Brewery:
Union Club on Douglas:
Post Office:
Princess of Wales Hotel:
Hotel Victoria:
YMCA:
Cormorant Street Firehall:
Permanent Loan Building:
Hotel Dallas (in James Bay):
BC Electric:
Lower Johnson Street at Wharf Street:
Arcade/Eaton's Building:
Salvation Army/Lower Johnson:
Driard Hotel:
HBC Warehouse:
Wharf Street:
Times Building:
HBC Warehouse/Office:
Spencer's/Eaton's:
Douglas & Johnson:
Edited by aastra, 15 May 2016 - 07:30 PM.
