Just the other day I was standing on Commercial Drive looking across at two of my favourite buildings which are in the centre of the east side of the 1600-block. The building on the left is the Odlin Block and the building on the right is the Rodway Block. My interest was piqued because these … Continue reading The Wealthy Barber and The Tin Man
The renovation of the old York Theatre at Commercial and E. Georgia is moving ahead quite quickly. As a result of the stripping of stucco from the south wall we now have another "ghost" sign: this one for the Little Theatre. It is not so easy to see, especially with the scaffolding still in place, … Continue reading York Theatre Renovation
(This is an excerpt from the recently published Vanishing Vancouver: The Last 25 Years [Whitecap Books]. The photographs are from The History of Saint Francis Parish, Vancouver, published in 1959) The Franciscan Monastery, its front porch closed in, on Semlin at Napier in the 1950s There are just a handful of places in … Continue reading St. Francis of Assisi church and the Italian community
In honour of International Women's Day, I thought I'd write a short piece on one of the most dynamic women ever to grace Grandview and Commercial Drive. Catherine Bufton (nee Drake) was born in Gloucester, England, in 1881. She emigrated to Manitoba where she met and married Hubert Bufton. After Hubert's service in World War … Continue reading International Women’s Day: Catherine Bufton
This little piece comes from the Vancouver Sun 2 February 1922.
A large part of the iconic 1908/c.1921 Robertson Presbyterian Church (and from 1978-2011 a Fijian Hindu temple and cultural centre) will be demolished to make room for a ten-unit housing development on the corner of Napier and Salsbury. The south-facing wing and the west-pointing lean-to will be torn down. The remaining BC Mills Timber & … Continue reading Robertson Presbyterian Church Development
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