Residents prepare to vacate a city landmark
The Old Continental Hotel’s leaping whale mural is a beacon for many
The Old Continental Hotel, one of the most visible fixtures of Vancouver’s social housing scene, is about to close — again.
And for most of the 86 residents of the down- at- heels, city- owned, singleroom hotel at the north end of Granville Bridge, their scenery is about to change dramatically. Starting later this spring, the city will begin moving most of the residents to a new home outside the downtown peninsula: a Kingsway motel it bought in the Collingwood neighbourhood last year for $ 15.5 million.
A few who are too old, too frail or too unwilling to make the move will remain downtown, close to the shops, doctors and hangouts they’ve known for years. The city is preparing the rest for what may be one of its boldest moves in mass relocation of an entire community.
“Some people will not want to move, and we will find accommodations for them as best we can downtown,” said Jennifer Standeven, assistant director of business operations for the city.
The Old Continental — recognizable as the shabby hotel with the mural of the leaping killer whale — sits inside one of the loops of the Granville Bridge. It’s the entrance to a rapidly changing Downtown South community now populated by the spires of condo towers.
But to the residents of the hotel, it’s been a welcome, if threadbare, home. Of the 86 residents, 17 of them are between 66 and 75 years old. Five residents have lived there more than 10 years; one has been there more than 20.
Love also has blossomed in the hotel; there are two couples who have hallway romances; each has their own room but consider themselves couples.
Built in 1911 as the Continental Hotel, it was acquired by the city in 1954 when it built the Granville Bridge. For more than 42 years, the 109- room building has been operated either by the YMCA or the city as a youth hostel, lowincome home or shelter.
Over the years, it has come to symbolize a home for the poor and indigent; while kept relatively clean, it has never escaped its reputation as a worn- out symbol of poverty. Rooms are rented at the provincial shelter rate of $ 375 per month. Because of the impending move, the city hasn’t been refilling the rooms as vacancies occur.
In 1987, engineers said the building wasn’t worth upgrading, and in 1992 the city closed it after building a new home nearby — called the New Continental — to house the current residents. No sooner had that been done than the city reopened the old Continental as an emergency shelter and renamed it as the Old Continental. Three years later, with the city’s poor still in need of space, the Continental reopened as a single- room hotel.
“It has been difficult to close this hotel, even though it has outlived its usefulness,” said Standeven.
The building is continuing to fall apart. The elevator was out of service for months while parts were custommade in Europe. Engineers, worried about wide cracks developing in an outer wall, have taped movement monitors across the cracks to watch for dangerous changes.
What’s convincing most of the Old Continental’s residents to move to the Kingsway location — now called the Kingsway Continental — is plumbing. Each room has its own bathroom, a luxury never considered in the old Continental, where residents lived in 10- by- 14- foot rooms.
“The big buy- in is the bathroom. That’s about 100 square feet more room, and people just haven’t had that,” Standeven said.
But moving an entire population is tricky. Standeven said each resident is being given a tailored plan. If they have homemaking services, those will continue at the new place. If they have medical concerns, solutions are being put in place.
“We’re meeting with every tenant individually to build a transition plan,” she said. “We’ve been careful to map out everything they need, from groceries to where the bus is to where the community centre and library are.”
Daren Larson, 46, has lived there for a year- and- a- half after being discharged from St. Paul’s Hospital. He says he’s grateful for the room, but isn’t sure he wants to move.
“I am undecided. One thing this has done is encourage me to consider getting my own place,” he said.
Others aren’t willing to make the move, worried about a major change in scenery.
“Some of them, it’s difficult to remember where they put their bus passes. They have doctors and friends here and it will be hard for them to adjust,” Larson said. “But I think the city is doing a pretty good job in how they are handling this.”
Standeven said the hotel will eventually be torn down. A few signature pieces in the hotel, including a pair of saloon doors found in the basement, will be moved to the Kingsway Continental. The murals, including the Wyland painted orca mural, will be kept as a digital record. The city has a long- term plan to revitalize the area, including removal of the two circular ramps leading on to and off of the bridge at Pacific.
Kevin McNaney, the assistant director of planning, said there’s no immediate plan to sell or rebuild on the Old Continental site.