Salvage is often our last grasp on history
Housing: Vancouver Heritage Foundation recycles city’s architecture
It is rather ironic that as the city of Vancouver busily and blithely sends never-ending truckloads of its loveliest old homes to the landfill, only to be supplanted by that which is much bigger and much less lovely, the affection for the heritage look remains strong.
Ironic in that we tear down 1900s arts and crafts homes, built with old-growth fir, leaded casement windows, wood-planked floors, stained glass windows and French pocket doors, and replace them with boxy pseudo-craftsman-style eyesores hastily constructed of chipboard and drywall, the solid wood and artistic detail of yore replaced by slapped-on stucco and MDF.
It quite rightly rankles those who care about the loss of our young city’s historical housing stock and so they fight the good fight, pronouncing that the greenest house is a house that is already built and making no bones about their disgust and disappointment with a prodevelopment city council.
There are spirited exchanges on heritage websites and Facebook accounts like Vancouver Vanishes, which chronicles the daily destruction on city streets, complete with pictures of doomed character homes.
From the protesters comes the demand for the city to do something about the roughly 1,000 houses a year that fall to the wrecking ball, their anger directed not just at politicians but at contractors and overseas real estate investors and homebuyers who value new over old and care not for preservation or restoration of standing heritage.
The good news, if one can call it that, is that there has been some progress on the political front, including a Vancouver green demolition bylaw introduced Sept. 1, 2014 that details specific waste-recycling requirements for homes built before 1940.
The bylaw dictates a minimum of 75 per cent of the demolition waste of those houses be recycled, with that percentage rising depending on the home’s character.
And while the bylaw comes with its own issues — some say it devalues the homes it’s trying save — it is nonetheless welcomed by the Vancouver Heritage Foundation, which holds periodic sales of architectural salvage items, much of it donated by contractors and homeowners.
While past years have seen the VHF depend on the kindness of strangers already attuned to the preservation movement, the new bylaw, executive director Judith Mosley says, is raising wider awareness about the value of repurposing the physical attributes of the teardowns.
“There is some awareness,” Mosley says, “but there is more to do to encourage it.”
By that she means that because the bylaw’s recycling requirement is weight-based, it’s often too much trouble for a homeowner or contractor to spend time removing individual items like light fixtures, door handles and stained-glass windows when bulldozing the works and sending it to the chipper is more expedient.
But the VHF has been making connections and putting out the word and, this Saturday, is holding a pop-up architectural salvage sale from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. out of a garage behind a house at 593 E. Georgia St. in Strathcona.
Among the donated items for sale will be glass doorknob sets (about $20), old wood doors ($30 and up), vintage windows ($50 and up) and various pieces of cast-iron metal work.
There will also be spindles, a metal fireplace screen and assorted brass and metal hardware.
Perhaps the most coveted items on the block are several wooden doors from the Legg House mansion, an A-listed 1899 West End heritage residence that was demolished last June to make way for a 17-storey tower.
The Legg House is arguably ground zero in the current anti-demolition war being waged on the city’s west side, and that its remains are now on the market is a telling symbol of the uphill battle facing preservationists.
The purpose of selling the Legg doors, and of the VHF sale in general, is three-fold, Mosley says.
While the sale raises funds for the foundation to continue its work, which includes annual heritage, laneway and Vancouver Special house tours as well as a variety of year-round workshops and talks, it also provides a treasure trove for old-home enthusiasts looking for original items to repurpose in their own heritage house renovations.
But perhaps more important is the awareness that comes with knowing that a simple wooden door can be all that’s left of a city landmark, all that’s left to echo the clarion call of heritage activists whose voices are too often lost to the din of bulldozers.