Art deco landmark to come down
Coastal Health planning social housing on site of former Salvation Army Temple
B.C.’s new housing minister, Selina Robinson, recently announced $83 million in funding for four new affordable-housing buildings in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. But she left out the fact that some significant heritage buildings would be torn down in the process, including the elegant Salvation Army Temple at 301 East Hastings St.
The streamlined art deco structure was hailed “as modern as tomorrow” when it opened on Feb. 18, 1950. It’s so distinctive, it rates a listing on Canada’s Historic Places website.
But it has been owned by Vancouver Coastal Health since 2001, and has sat empty for the last 17 years. Coastal Health is now partnering with B.C. Housing to replace it with a community health facility on the main floor, and 75 units of social housing on top.
Still, the former director of the Carnegie Centre wonders why the building has sat empty for almost two decades, when it could have filled a dire need for community space in the DTES.
“It has a wonderful theatre auditorium, a great gym, all kinds of meeting rooms — just great working spaces for a community centre,” said Michael Clague. “This is an area where people’s own private space is so limited that they need public indoor gathering spaces. Carnegie for so many years has served as a living room for the area … well, other living rooms are needed as well.”
Clague said he has put several “feelers” out to Coastal Health about the building over the years, but been rebuffed.
“Health was never interested in talking about it, ever,” he said. “They just hung on to the thing. That’s the disappointment. They hung on, and let it deteriorate.”
Donna Spencer of the Firehall Theatre did a study that looked at converting the building into an arts centre.
“A number of us went in and had a look at it, and thought this could turn into a real asset for the community,” she said. “There’s a couple of places that could be performance spaces, there was areas (where you could) create a workshop for residents to come in and build things, or do their carving. There were all sorts of possibilities.”
Spencer has also been frustrated by Coastal Health sitting on the building, which heritage advocates call “demolition through neglect.”
“A lot of people in the community have gone to them and said, ‘Can we rent it? Can we use it temporarily?’ ” she said. “And it’s basically been no, no, no. They’re not that interested.”
In an email, Carrie Stefanson of Vancouver Coastal Health said “when Vancouver Coastal Health purchased the property, it did not have the financial capacity to develop a new community health care centre on the site.” But thanks to the new funding, it “will now be utilized for health care and housing, which are both desperately needed on the Downtown Eastside.”
Heritage expert Don Luxton thinks the goals of the proposed new building are fine. But he doesn’t understand why it has to built on the site of a unique heritage building.
“There’s lots of other places to put their facility, (but) there’s no other place down there left that is a purpose-built assembly hall,” he said. “What is the area crying out for? Not more (social) housing — there’s lots of housing being built, that’s all that’s being built in that area.
“What are (Downtown Eastside residents) going to do? What else are we going to have in the neighbourhood? It’s clearly identified by many proponents that there is a crying need for cultural facilities in the area.”
Luxton rejects the argument that the building has deteriorated to the point where it has to be torn down.
“It’s concrete,” he said. “A reinforced concrete building could be repurposed quite readily. The current condition of the finishes and interiors makes no difference.”