In a city like Vancouver, where the demolition of heritage structures can often seem like an inevitable part of life in one of North America's most rapidly evolving cityscapes, there is rarely time enough to pause and take scope of what this or any other city in a similar position is losing by scrubbing away its built history and architectural heritage. Thus it is with a certain sense of dread for lovers of architectural and local history, that Heritage Vancouver has published its 2018 Top10 Watch List for endangered buildings in and around downtown Vancouver. 

Fairmont Academy Building, Maclure & Fox (1914), image courtesy Heritage Vancouver

First on the list, the 1914-built, Maclure & Fox-designed, Fairmont Academy Building, located upon the 21-acre Heather Street Lands Parcel in South Cambie, has caught the attention of heritage buffs, the Tudor-style structure an area gem for more than a century. Likely to fall to the wrecker's ball should the lands go up for sale or redevelopment, the A-listed heritage structure may soon be relegated to the history books. 

Stanley Hotel & New Fountain Hotel, Gastown, image courtesy Heritage Vancouver

Further down the list, the #3 position goes to a collection of heritage commercial buildings in Gastown, the upcoming redevelopment of 33 W Cordova Street to more than likely to involve the removal of all but the facades of two historic edifices - the Stanley Hotel and New Fountain Hotel - which will be torn down to make way for a new mixed-use structure. Built up between the Great Fire of 1886 and the First World War, Gastown's unique "sawtooth" streetscape made up of commercial buildings of varying heights, has remained a downtown fixture for more than a century. 

Winch Building (left) and Post Office (right), image by Bobanny via Wikimedia Commons

Taking the #7 spot, the historic complex of interrelated heritage structures that comprise the Sinclair Centre, consisting of the Former Post Office (1905-09), Winch Building (1908-09), Customs Warehouse (1911-13), and Public Building (1937-39), has caught the eye of Heritage Vancouver due to its continued fall into disrepair. Protected as Category A and B heritage structures, and owned by the Federal Government, the Sinclair Centre is viewed as endangered due to both their aforementioned deterioration, and the fact that the Government has recently applied for rezoning on the site, which could lead to less than favourable alterations in the near future.

Copied below, Heritage Vancouver's 2018 Top10 Watch List, includes these and seven others believed to be in imminent danger of demolition or alteration beyond repair:

  1. Heather Street Lands and Fairmont Academy
  2. Chinatown
  3. Gastown
  4. Schools: David Lloyd George Elementary
  5. Neighbourhood Businesses
  6. False Creek Flats industrial heritage
  7. Sinclair Centre
  8. Britannia Community Centre Complex
  9. Takehara/Yada Apartments
  10. UBC War Memorial Gym

While only time will tell what will become if these and other heritage structures in Vancouver, it remains an unfortunate reality that many of the listed sites will soon meet their fate. One need only look back to past years of the Top10 Watch List to see how similar structures have fared going back to 2001. 

Worried about a heritage structure in your neighbourhood? Give us a heads up in the Vancouver Forum, or share your thoughts  on the Top10 Watch List in the comments section below!