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Before the Pacific Coliseum and Rogers Arena, there was Denman Arena. The 10,500-seat venue located at 1805 West Georgia Street, standing at the northwest corner with Denman Street, became the largest indoor ice rink in the country when it opened in 1911.
While it was used for an assortment of sports, musical performances and political assemblies, the most talked-about events held within its brick walls were the consistently crowd-pleasing Stanley Cup championships. The home team Vancouver Millionaires would go on to become the first west coast franchise to win the Stanley Cup in 1915 — when Canada was embroiled in the First World War, during which the complex would serve as an assembly point for Canadian servicemen.
After selling his Nelson-based lumber business for $440,000, Joe Patrick would direct the proceeds towards the construction of an arena in support of the new Pacific Coast Hockey Association. Previously occupied by the fruit and vegetable-producing Kanaka Ranch, which was settled by Hawaiian families, the Patricks purchased 13 Coal Harbour lots and began construction on the facility. The Denman Arena opened on December 20, 1911 and was joined by a 2,500-seat auditorium 16 years later.
After hosting 4,000 fans for a boxing match on an August night in 1936, a fire would break out nearby and envelop the arena in quick fashion. Despite adding a brick veneer to the exterior to ward off the mindful threat of fire, it would spread to the inside and completely destroy the building. Seven industrial buildings, two homes and 58 boats were also devastated, but thankfully, the lack of wind prevented the fire from spreading into the core of the city.
The site of the ravaged arena was sold to Vancouver theatre owner H.M. Singer in 1945, and although his long-term plans involved the construction of another sports arena, it never came to pass. The adjacent auditorium miraculously survived the fire of 1936, was renovated in 1952, but was demolished only seven years later after the Queen Elizabeth Theatre was built. Today, the storied property forms part of Devonian Harbour Park, with an informative marker at the foot of Denman Street describing what once stood on the site.
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