65 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

It’s a bold vision but I can’t see anything taller than the neighbouring buildings being approved there. And if that’s the case, the densities are unlikely to be sufficient to make the case for funding $50 million in restorative costs.

The church is being leased for private events now, and some of the programming is not exactly in-keeping with the mandate of a church. I don’t know why the diocese is even willing to entertain some of the events.

[Vin]

Does Christ Church Cathedral on Burrard in Vancouver look tacky? It's surrounded by tall modern towers (much taller than these).

 

https://www.google.c...i8192?entry=ttu

 

Yes, Vancouver is no longer interested in preserving any heritage feel to its downtown neighbourhoods.

[Doctor Detroit]

I note some type of crosshatched plaza on Quadra, in front of the cathedral entrance, and can only imagine some bright spark deciding that traffic on Quadra needs to be calmed further because it's been increased by the traffic that was calmed away from Vancouver Street.

 

Maybe the $50 million includes money to give everyone within 500 meters a cargo bike so they'll never need a car again.

[Victoria Watcher]

Parents concerned about proposal to develop Christ Church Cathedral grounds

 

Families of students who attend Christ Church Cathedral School are concerned about loss of play areas and green space

https://www.timescol...grounds-7914813

[TimM]

Parents concerned about proposal to develop Christ Church Cathedral grounds

 

Families of students who attend Christ Church Cathedral School are concerned about loss of play areas and green space

https://www.timescol...grounds-7914813

 

This reminds me of people on BC Ferries who complained about the Wifi on the ferries.  The answer?  Shut it down

 

Someone should tell the parents  "...and Phase 2 includes demolition of the school to be replaced with a tower."

[E2V]

I see Fairfield is bypassing the usual too tall, too dense, doesn’t fit and going straight to won’t someone think of the children!

[Victoria Watcher]

I see Fairfield is bypassing the usual too tall, too dense, doesn’t fit and going straight to won’t someone think of the children!

 

So the same group that went ape about the Len whathisname project in CSV has no opinion here.

[Mike K.]

I think the contention is the families who chose to send their kids to the private school there were caught off guard.

It is better for a child to stay in one school, if it can be helped. I know one family there who chose the cathedral over GNS, and now regret not starting their kid off there. I mean when you’re paying big bucks to send a kid to school…

[Nparker]

Would the parents of the CCC students mind funding the entire restoration/seismic upgrade of the cathedral through their children's tuition?

[Mike K.]

If asked, they can make that decision, I'm sure.

[Victoria Watcher]

‘Gong show’: Victoria neighbours fear impact of church’s mega-housing proposal

 

‘They’re trying to dominate a historical building like the architecture of this cathedral’

https://www.vicnews....roposal-7118881

[Nparker]

Either there's a housing "crisis" or there isn't. 500,000 additional residents in Canada EACH year have to live somewhere.

[Doctor Detroit]

I note some type of crosshatched plaza on Quadra, in front of the cathedral entrance, and can only imagine some bright spark deciding that traffic on Quadra needs to be calmed further because it's been increased by the traffic that was calmed away from Vancouver Street.

 

Maybe the $50 million includes money to give everyone within 500 meters a cargo bike so they'll never need a car again.

I looked a bit more closely at the plans (available on the city's site) from Oct. 24. This close-up is taken from slide 8, "Landscape Concept."

See where the streets meet the brown crosshatchy stuff (which I think represents some kind of cobblestone / artsy-brickwork)? Unless the cathedral is planning a divine-size pergola over the intersection, I have a feeling the triangles, which I've highlighted with yellow circles, represent Extreme Calming (no vehicle bigger than a cargo bike except for the motor scooters or motor cycles that blitz through at night).

I understand this is all preliminary, but part of those prelimaries seems to represent the cathedral's grabbing of land to its west for some public amenity that will calm local traffic from east of the cathedral all the way over to Blanchard.

 

Attached Images

• 

[Nparker]

Another skirmish in the war on cars.

[aastra]

That's very interesting because not only is the broader "highrise buildings at Christ Church" redevelopment concept a revival of something from decades earlier, but so is the closing of the adjacent streets on the downtown side. It's not exactly the same as the 1950s concept, but it's similar enough to raise some proverbial eyebrows.

 

 

The Cathedral Hill plan (late 1950s/early 1960s) is talked about in "Unbuilt Victoria" by Dorothy Mindenhall (p30-33). Apparently it would have been a joint thing between the province (for the new courthouse) and the city.

If you're not familiar with the urban revitalization concepts of this era, you might want to brace yourselves before you read the following shockers:

Courtney Street was to be closed...

Most of Broughton Street was to be closed as well, allowing services like the parking lot to be relatively obscured at the edge of the site.

The book contains a pic of the model for the development. A large parking level has been dropped from the sky right across Broughton Street, seemingly covering both the Escher site and the old building immediately east of the Royal Theatre.

 

[aastra]

I've noted this phenomenon many times before: many of today's bright ideas -- the products of today's unique circumstances -- are often just the dusted-off and slightly modified visions from decades ago.

[aastra]

Just in case anyone thinks I'm exaggerating or joking, check out the Daily Colonist from April 28, 1961. What is Rod Clack pointing at? He's pointing at the "reflecting pool in parklike area now covered by Courtney Street".

 

 

Detailed plans for the precinct call for the closure of Courtney Street between Blanshard and Quadra...

 

--

 

Edited by aastra, 06 December 2023 - 05:21 PM.

[aastra]

^Also note the old intention to close Rockland between Quadra and Vancouver.

 

I gotta say, the obsession with closing Courtney seems nutbars to me. Why would anyone walk along the 800-block of Courtney and think the key to that street's potential for success would involve closing it off to traffic? It's a lame duck downtown street. There's nothing interesting on it. It's effectively blank on both sides until you get near the playground. If you close it to traffic then it's still a lame duck downtown street, except you can now walk right down the middle of it. Yay! So what?

 

When I walk along Courtney I think the key to that street's potential for success would involve the introduction of some notable downtown buildings on either side that were actually worthy of that prime approach toward the monumental cathedral. We should be aspiring to make the lame street more interesting, not aspiring to preserve the current lameness in perpetuity.

 

I'm not saying the closure of Courtney couldn't work well with (for example) the redevelopment of the YMCA site. Sure, it could. But I'm saying a street closure should never serve as its own raison d'être.

[Vin]

The proposal with the tallest tower feels less cluttered and likely retains the greater amount of greenspace and openness on the site.

 

The "clutter" allows better street interactions reminiscent of Old Town. I love it.

[Nparker]

The Cathedral District isn't now, nor ever was old town.