It's since been enveloped by a forest of similarly scaled towers, but when it was built in 1967, the Blue Horizon Hotel was a literal beacon in the skyline. The first highrise hotel in the city, the 31-storey tower's rooftop was fitted with lights that guided airplanes at night. Centrally located on Robson Street, with superlative views of the cityscape, the building's Italian blue glass mosaic tiles are underscored by white balconies, creating a bright and luminescent facade.

Robson Street in the early 1970s, image via City of Vancouver Archives

An image dating back to the early 1970s shows the then newly built hotel in its infancy, situated across Bute Street from a Texaco service station. The Bank of Nova Scotia, now simply styled Scotiabank, occupied a section of the podium, and still does to this day. 

Another building looming in the distance emphasizes the importance of Robson Street as a commercial and cultural corridor. Still under construction in the archival photo, the Sheraton (Empire) Landmark Hotel was built at 1400 Robson Street in 1973. At 120 metres and 42 storeys, the tower is the tallest hotel-only building in the city, and conspicuously features the revolving Cloud 9 restaurant at its apex. 

Robson Street today, image retrieved from Google Street View

But seniority is no shield against progress; plans are currently before the City to completely demolish the Empire Landmark Hotel and erect two predominantly residential towers in its stead. The application highlights the accelerating pace of change in Vancouver, which is increasingly running out of land that has traditionally served as precursors to redevelopment, such as surface parking lots.

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