Athletes and Updates

The Templeton Market is located on Templeton Drive North. Built in 1912, this was formerly the home of Bayly Bros. Grocery as well as an I.O.O.F. Hall.

Today I am going to continue my look at the 1920s in Vancouver and give you an update on an earlier story.

Local restaurant owner, Peter Pantages, was organizing the Polar Bear Swim Club. Pangtages, nephew of the Pantages of the Pantages Theatre fame, took a morning dip in the frigid waters of English Bay. After the swim, Peter and his friends would meet at Pantages Peter Pan Cafe on Granville.

The Polar Swim Club organized an annual winter swim for those who decided that once a year in the freezing water was enough. That event still happens every New Years Day. Not that I have ever participated or, at the moment, intend to get into that freezing water.

It was in 1928 that Vancouver's own Percy Williams became a national hero. It was at the Amsterdam Olympics that Williams took the world of track and field by storm, winning gold in both the 100 and 200 metre sprints.

In an earlier blog entry, I posted a photo of the home that Percy once lived in. When I wrote on the new BC Place, I showed photos of a statue of Williams outside the venue. It is obvious that Vancouver appreciates our hero.

Here is a photo of Percy Williams, thanks to the Vancouver Public Library. The Dominion Photo Co is credited with this May 8, 1928 picture.

I posted a link to an online petition a while ago to stop the destruction of a legendary live venue in town, the Waldorf. The developers have said that they are going to incorporate the building into the condominiums being built on that site.

Waldorf Productions though is not dead. The people involved in that have teamed with the Rickshaw owner David Duprey and his partner Rachel Zottenburg to run the Fox Cinema on Granville Street. A five-year lease has been signed with a five-year option to renew. However, it may be a while before the new venue opens since the Fox, a former porno theatre, is a disaster inside and needs a lot of work to clean it up.

To honor this event and in memory of what the Waldorf once was, I found some old photos of the interior from the Vancouver City archives. Enjoy.

Thanks goes to Aynsley Vogel and Dana Wyse for their book Vancouver, A History in Photographs where I got the information on the 1920s in Vancouver. 

I hope you find the beauty around you.

I have written on The Waldorf and its history before. If you want to read what I said, go here.


Karen Magill, Vancouver, 1920, history, Vancouver, A History in Photographs, Aynsley Vogel British Columbia, Canada, Dana Wyse,Percy Williams, Waldorf

Legends

A few blocks away from where I live a hotel has been going through  renovations. I have been watching every time I walk by and have been interested in seeing the job finished. Today I saw a new hotel.

The Waldorf Hotel at 1489 East Hastings was designed by architects Mercer and Mercer in 1947. In 1955 the complex was transformed into one of North America's most renowned 'tiki' themed bars and hotels.

As you can see the new design has kept at least a bit of the Polynesian theme. This door was previously green opaque material with the name The Grove on it. On an episode of Neon Rider Dr. Michael Terry, portrayed by Winsten Rekert had a scene in there. And rumour has it that Canadian actor Callum Keith Rennie used to drink there. Before he quit drinking that is.

The complex looks so much brighter and open now. So much more modern.

Earlier this year musician Thomas Anselmi and restaurateur Ernesto Gomez took over the Waldorf Hotel and along with architect Scott Cohen have worked hard to put their vision of turning the complex into a creative hub in East Vancouver.

The hotel rooms have been renovated; a 1950s style tiki has been restored and there is a nightclub and banquet spaces. Click on the link towards the top of this entry to be taken to the complex's website and learn all about the opening.

Since we are talking about music I want to talk a bit about a place in Vancouver that no longer exists. Hogan's Alley. This was an unofficial name for an area in Strathcona that was about one block wide and three blocks long. It was Vancouver's first and last neighbourhood with a substantial African population. This is thought to be because the railroads, where many of the residents were employed, was close by.

Prior to 1935 Hogan's Alley was a red light district but when law enforcement cracked down on vice crimes, Hogan's Alley still flourished. That is until about 1970 when the construction of the Georgia Viaduct wiped out most of the area.

The original plan was to actually destroy much of Chinatown and Gastown, obliterating our history and instead installing highways and 'boxes' such as this one.

Thanks to the efforts of community activists such as Mary Lee Chan Strathcona, Chinatown and Gastown were saved but not until Hogan's Alley was effectively obliterated.

You may ask what this has to do with music and I'll tell you. On the corner of Main and Union is the Jimi Hendrix Museum and Shrine.

Opened in 2009 the museum sits near where Vie's Chicken and Steak House once was. Nora Hendrix, Jimi's grandmother apparently worked there.

The restaurant was famous, a prominent black-owned business and ran from 1948 to 1975. It was owned Vie Moore and her husband Robert.

Vincent Fodera, owner of the museum, has spent a lot of time, money and energy creating this tribute to a legend.

A fitting tribute to a legend and his ties to our great city.

Have a great Halloween weekend and be safe.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Waldorf Hotel, Vie's Chicken and Steak House,Georgia Viaduct,Jimi Hendrix,Thomas Anselmi,history,