George William Grant

When I "discovered" the Heather Pavilion, the first thing that caught my attention was this - a statue of one of my heroes, Rick Hansen. For 17 years, it resided on the grounds of Rogers Arena but was displaced due to condo developments. Now, this sculptor by Willliam (Bill) Koochin has a new home.

I was looking for information on the architect, George William Grant, who helped design the Heather Pavilion. The biography seems to be under construction but I did find a list of places he designed. So I will list those.

The first list is places designed under the name of George William Grant alone and I am only including those in Vancouver.

CORDOVA STREET, at Abbott Street, commercial block for W.B. Wilson, 1887
EDMONDS BLOCK, Abbott Street at Water Street, for Henry V. Edmonds, 1888-89
BROWNING BLOCK, Granville Street at Dunsmuir Street, for J.M. Browning, 1894
WATER STREET, a 3 storey block for Major Twigge and E. Cook, 1895
STEVESTON, B.C., Phoenix Cannery Co., 1896-97
WEST END PUBLIC SCHOOL, Hornby Street, additions, 1897
DONALD SMITH BLOCK, Georgia Street at Granville Street, conversion and renovation of the existing building for residential flats on three floors, 1898
LORD STRATHCONA BLOCK, Granville Street at Georgia Street, remodelling and interior alterations, 1898
W.H. LECKIE CO, Granville Street, commercial block with Imperial Bank, 1898
B.C. SUGAR REFINERY CO. LTD., on the waterfront at Raymur Avenue, warehouse, 1898; with addition of a two storey office block by Grant and Henderson, 1904
HASTINGS STREET, near Carrall Street, four-storey block for B.B. Johnston and Co., 1899
HASTINGS STREET, between Cambie Street and Abbott Street, block for Johnston and Kerfoot, 1899 HASTINGS STREET, three storey block for F. Rathgeber "adjoining the Henderson Bros. Block", 1899 WALKER BUILDING, Hastings Street, "...next to the Free Library building", for Sam Walker, 1899 McLENNAN, McFEELY and CO., Pender Street, warehouse, 1900
McKAY BLOCK, Pender Street, stores and dwellings, 1900
ORMIDALE BLOCK, West Hastings Street, 1900
CARNEGIE LIBRARY, Main Street at Hastings Street, 1901-03
PENDER STREET, warehouse for J. Lewerke, located "...beside the warehouse of McLennan, McFeely and Co.", 1902
TUNSTALL BLOCK, Granville Street at Dunsmuir Street, for Dr. Simon J. Tunstall, 1902
GRANVILLE STREET, commercial block for B. Davidson "...immediately south of Ms. R. Leigh Spencer Real Estate and Mining Co.", 1902
HENDERSON BROTHERS, Pender Street, warehouse, 1902
CORDOVA STREET, near Columbia Avenue, a three storey brick stable for Atkins and Johnson, 1902-03

Carnegie Centre

BC Sugar Refinery

Here is a list of buildings designed under the name of Grant and Henderson

CORDOVA STREET, commercial block for S. Willams of San Francisco, 1903
HASTINGS STREET, commercial block for John Lewerke, 1903
MINT BUILDING, Carrall Street at Hastings Street, for Mrs. Templeton, 1903
NELSON STREET, residence for Dr. W.E. Emmons, 1903; demol. 1976
VANCOUVER GENERAL HOSPITAL, Heather Street at West 10th Avenue, 1904-05; Isolation Hospital, 1905; addition 1908; Southwest Wing, 1911
ROAF BLOCK, Richards Street, 1905
TEMPLE BUILDING, Pender Street, for Richard V. Winch, 1905
PENDRILL STREET, near Bute Street, residence for Walter H. Ker, 1905
BURNABY STREET, near Cardero Street, residence for Edgar S. Lee, 1906
NELSON STREET, residence for Almeron S. Cross, 1906
WALSH BLOCK, Pender Street at Richards Street, for William Walsh, 1906
NEW WESTMINSTER, residence for Dr. E.J. Rothwell, 6th Street, 1906
EVANS, COLEMAN & EVANS, Cordova Street, warehouse, 1906
CLARK and STUART CO., Seymour Street at Cordova Street, warehouse, 1906
GEORGIA STREET, at Burrard Street, hotel for Benjamin T. Rogers, 1906
PENDER STREET, at Bute Street, block for A.R. Stevenson, 1906
PENDER STREET, block for Dr. E. Newton Drier, 1906
ST. ANDREW'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Georgia Street at Richards Street, additions and alterations, 1906
LIGHTHOUSE HOTEL, Cordova Street at Homer Street, additions, 1906
GAVIN BROTHERS LTD., Hamilton Street, 'near the Oddfellows Hall', warehouse, 1907
FIRE HALL, for West Fairview, 1907
FIRE HALL, for Cedar Cove, 1907
PIONEER STEAM LAUNDRY, West Hastings Street, 1907
EMPRESS MANUFACTURING CO., Homer Street at Helmcken Street, warehouse, 1908-09
FORTIN HOTEL, West Cordova Street, for C.S. Douglas and Co., 1909
ECHO APARTMENTS, Davie Street, 1909
NELSON COURT APARTMENTS, Nelson Street, 1909
1st AVENUE WEST, near Trafalgar Street, residence for Robert P. McLennan, 1909
FALSE CREEK GRAIN ELEVATOR, Front Street at Scotia Street, for A.E. Burnett, 1909
ST. PAUL'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Jervis Street at Pendrill Street, rectory and Parish Hall, 1910-11
SILVER LEAF ROOMS, West Pender Street, 1910-11
WATER STREET, warehouse for W. and E.C. Taylor, 1911
HAMPTON COURT APARTMENTS, Thurlow Street at Burnaby Street, for Dr. E.N. Drier, 1912
MATTHEWS AVENUE, residence for Miles P. Cotton, 1912
NIAGARA HOTEL, West Pender Street at Homer Street, 1912

Finally, places designed by Grant, Henderson and Cook.


GRANVILLE STREET, near 17th Avenue, mansion for John West, 1912
WOLFE AVENUE, at Douglas Street, residence for Frank C. Taylor, 1912
KING EDWARD AVENUE, near Pine Crescent, residence for David McNair, 1912
CARTIER STREET, residence for Arthur B. Pottenger, 1912
HUDSON STREET, at Balfour Avenue, mansion for Hugh McLean, 1913; demol. 1977

As you can see, Grant was responsible for many buildings in the Vancouver area. From iconic buildings such as the Carnegie Centre and the Heather Pavilion to industrial structures like the BC Sugar Refinery to homes and apartment buildings, George William Grant left his mark on Vancouver.

The information above was supplied by the Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada website.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Siege at the Carnegie

I snagged this photo from an entry on the SFU (Simon Fraser University) site. It was taken in 1902.

At the corner of Main and Hastings stands a fine old building known as Carnegie Centre. In 1901, the City of Vancouver approached American industrial magnate, Andrew Carnegie, for a grant to build a library. Carnegie agreed to put up $50,000 on the condition that the city supply the land and pay $5,000 a year in upkeep. The City of Vancouver agreed, choosing a plot of land that was beside City Hall at the time, and the Carnegie Library opened in 1903. 

In 1905, the Vancouver Museum occupied the top floor. In 1929, the library expanded into the now vacant city hall next door. (The City Hall building had been in that spot since 1889. In 1929, City Hall moved to the Holden Building on Hastings Street.)

I like this stylized image of the centre and City Hall. The building that once housed city hall is no longer there.

This is a photo of the city hall in the forefront and Carnegie Library in the back. It is from the Vancouver Public Library collection and Philip Timms took it in 1904.

In 1935, on May 28 to be exact, 250 young men stormed the Carnegie Library and politely asked the staff to leave. They then took residence on the third floor, waving and yelling to supporters on the ground. 

These young men were from the relief camps that were set up around the country in an effort by Prime Minister R. W. Bennett to do something to help the unemployed in the thirties. Single, unemployed young men would be shipped off to these camps set up in the middle of nowhere to do such things as digging ditches. Then the ditches would be filled back in and redug. 

I have to admit though that it wasn't that big of a siege. It lasted about eight hours and ended when the city promised a bit of cash for every man and promised not to press charges.

Another photo by Philip Timms. This one was taken in 1910.

T

This is a 1920 photo of the interior of Carnegie Library. It was taken by Leonard Frank.

A group of men reading papers in the Carnegie Library. It was taken in 1937.

A 1932 photo by Philip Timms that shows the foyer and circulation desk.

The takeover of the Carnegie Library may not have been that drastic but it is said to have led to the 'On To Ottawa' trek. In this protest, hundreds of strikers boarded railway freight cars headed for Ottawa. The men wanted to force the government to shut down the relief camps. However, the men with a mission were stopped by the RCMP in Regina.

Their message did reach the prime minister in Ottawa and the camps were shut down by the newly elected Liberal government later that year.

The library moved in the fifties and the Carnegie fell into a state of disrepair. But in the late seventies, early eighties, this sandstone building was rehabilitated by the city and has since become a meeting place for the disadvantaged people in the area.

Philip Timms took this photo of the spiral staircase in 1932. I have been in the Carnegie Centre and this staircase is still impressive. In fact, there is a scene in Missing Flowers where I describe the staircase and Carnegie Centre.

Another 1932 photo by Philip Timms. This shot shows the stained glass windows on one of the landings.

There are many people living on welfare and complaining that they don't have enough money to survive. I walk through this area and I see the people smoking cigarettes, smoking pot and some are drunk. They have money for that but not for the important things in life.

These people demonstrate outside of expensive restaurants in the area, protesting the gentrification of the area. They forget that it is businesses such as this and the patrons who supply the money to pay for the welfare and the social housing and the rehab clinics etc. I see that these poverty stricken people can still afford their vices and I think of when people who were poor in this country were really poor. I do have a few photos from 1935-1939 that illustrate my point.

These people didn't have welfare to fall back on. They had to make do with what they could. Kind of makes claims of poverty because a person can't afford all the television channels or a new car or a new cell phone seem really foolish, doesn't it?

Thanks to The Tyee for the information on the siege at Carnegie Public Library and to HistoricPlaces.ca for information on the history of the Carnegie Centre. And, of course, thanks to the Vancouver Public library for some of the photos shown here. The 1935 to 1939 photos are compliments of a friend of my mother's.

Happy Labour Day and I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Carnegie, history, relief camp, Missing Flowers city hall, Main, Hastings,Ottawa,

MM

Can you guess what the MM stands for? Yup. This is the last of the photos related to the mural - Mural Memories. I hope you enjoy it.

Carnegie Centre. It has had some work done on it this year and is looking pretty good for being 109 years old. American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated money for Vancouver to build a library with certain conditions applied. It was also the last building of any civic importance - besides law enforcement buildings - to be built in the downtown eastside.

This was the first fire hall and the last  fire hall to have horse drawn wagons. It was built in 1905.

The York Rooms at 259 Powell Street is on the mural. All it says though is that this building, and the one next to it which I am going to show you, were built around 1908.

When this building was built in 1912 it was called the Toronto Apartments. Now, as you can see, it is called The Astoria Hotel and has one of the city's oldest boxing rings in the basement. I've mentioned this before and I intend on getting down there to take photos.

Remember when I wrote on the Ferrera Court? Built in 1912 by Agostino Gabrele Ferrara who was a well known restuaranteur. Jack Benny's wife once lived in this building.

The Hotel Patricia was built between 1912-1914 as a medical center. Later it became a hotel and welcomed such legendary musicians as Duke Ellington and Ferdinand 'Jelly Roll' Morton.

 300 Alexander was originally the Victoria & Vancouver Stevedoring Co. This building sits on one of the first addresses in Vancouver to receive water service in 1888.

Wow! I got a lot of entries out of that wall painting and I didn't get to everything. Some buildings are no longer there and some I couldn't get to.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Andrew Carnegie, Vancouver,York Rooms,Strathcona,Powell Street,History,Astoria Hotel