Special Friday Feature

Georgia Medical Dental Building

The stately fifteen storey George Medical Dental Building  stood proudly at 923 Georgia Street on the corner with Hornby Street from 1929 to 1989.  It was just what its name said it was,  a building of offices of doctors and dentists.  In fact it even contained a hospital and auditorium.  But what was really distictive about the modern skin of this pink terra cotta and brick building was the art deco decoration. Giant white nurse sculptures watched Vancouverites from three corner parapets nine storeys above the street.  They were nicknamed the Rea sisters, Pya, Dya, and Gonna.  White cement icing  gracing the top of the building completed the art deco facade.  

The original Rea sisters were cast in terracotta and filled with concrete.  These were no frail women; they each weighed 5000 pounds.  When the building was demolished in 1989 they  bcame the property of the Vancouver Museum. However, the molds belong to Cathedral Place. A 500 pound fiberglass replica can be seen at ItalDecor Ltd. on East Hastings Street at Sperling Avenue. Yes, a larger than life Georgia Medical Dental Building nurse is standing in the Hastings Street yard amid cement urns, gargoyls, and fountains.  Whether she is Pya, Dya, or Gonna, is unknown.

In 1989 the 1929 Georgia Medical Dental Building was deemed "economically unsaveable"  because of skyrocketing prices of downtown office space.  The demolition was dramatic and took place Sunday morning at 7:45 am on May 28, 1989. It was done by a "controlled explosion", an implosion.  The streets around the building were filled with people who had come to honor the building and wonder at what an implosion looked like.  The crowds were not disappointed and gasped as the gutted 15 storey building quickly crumbled. Then some went across the street to the Vancouver Hotel for breakfast.

Later in the year the framed set of four photos by Graham Hollins was sold in local stores.  The photos show not only the original building and the stages of implosion, but also an interesting shadow in the south wall of the pink windowed Park Place building at 666 Burrard Street.  Look closely and you can see the outline of the Vancouver Hotel, just the roof in the first photo and then gradually the whole building.  

The building that now stands on the site on the north west corner of Georgia and Hornby is the 23 storey Cathedral Place.  A sculputed bust of a nurse sits in the lobby as a very small tribute to the original 1929 Geogia Medical Dental Building.

 

Photo: Copy of framed photo taken Sunday May 28, 1989 by Graham Hollins.

Books:  Exploring Vancouver 2 by Harold Kalma, 1974.

              Vanishing Vancouver by Michael Kluckner, 1990.

Research: Thank you to Mario at ItaliDecor Ltd.

Linc:  http://925westgeorgia.com/

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Pink Posies on Chesterfield

Pink posies in a rock planter grace the front of the pink house at 1805 Chesterfield Avenue.  It could be called the Blanchett House, since Sid and Charlotte built it and lived in it for over 30 years.  The house was built in 1947 for $5000.  At that time Sid was a carpenter.  In 1955 Sid was working for Leslie Construction. By 1970 it seems he was a building contractor out on his own with Blanchett Construction.  Blanchett Construction is again listed in the 1980 City Directory under the name of Sidney G. Blanchet.

Chesterfield Avenue runs north from Esplanade near the waterfront up the base of the mountain and crossing the Upper Levels Highway and Queens Road and then all the way to Osborne Road.  Although most of Chesterfield Ave. is in the City of North Vancouver, at the north side of 29th Street is extends into North Vancouver District.  The whole way it is parallel to Lonsdale Avenue which is the main drag of  the City of North Vancouver.  At one time Chesterfield Avenue was a street of homes. Much of the street as far up as the Upper Levels Highway is now lined with apartment buildings.  With the shops, library and recreation center just a block away on Lonsdale Ave. Chesterfield Avenue is a desirable and convenient place for a denser population.

A prominent complex on Chesterfield Avenue between West 3rd and 4th Street  is Presentation House, the home of the North Vancouver Museum, an art gallery and a theater.  On its campus is the old Church of St. John the Evangelist.  Presentation House was built as Central School in 1902 and has been the home of the North Vancouver City Hall,  jail, and the North Vancouver Archives. 

Demolition Permit: Applied for September 18, 2009.

Photo: Taken October 4, 2009 by SW.

Book: Heritage Inventory City of North Vancouver 1994 

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Seylynn at Fern 

The house at the corner of Mountain Highway and Fern Street is addressed 1502 Fern Street. It was built in 1931, a garage was added in 1940, and a green house in 1974.  The first listing for Fern Street in the City Directories was found in 1949.  In 1955 the address is listed at 1602, with the resident being Mathew Watson, a notary Public. The address and resident remained the same in 1960.  In 1970 the address had changed to 1502 and the residents were Doreen and Ervine Demers.  Ervine worked as a mechanic.

Fern Street now leads from Mountain Highway to the on ramp to the Upper Levels Highway.  However, until a few years ago, the on ramp was at the end of Keith Road just after the bridge across Lynn Creek.  It will be the southern border of the new Seylynn Village.  Demolition of the homes on Fern Street has begun.

Thank you to Elaine Oakes, RM Clerk, Admin. Svcs. NVD.

Photo: Taken August 30, 2008 by SW.

 

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
St. Denis /Mountain Highway


Today this bright white house with its broad front port sits in Seylynn at 652 Mountain Highway.  It was built for $1000 by E.C. Cave in 1925. At that time it was listed as a commercial property. E. Cave lived there until at least 1931. the City Directories indicate that Irene and Arlo Barkley lived in the house from 1952 to the 1970's.  Arlo was a shipper at Burns and Co.  By 1980 Terry Green was the resident at 652 Mountain Highway.  Behind the house are two out buildings.  One looks like a little house with a door between two windows.  It even has a mailbox. The other building is a small one car garage. Both have entrances on Bruce Street.


Mountain Highway was not always called that. As Mountain Highway wove its way down from Lynn Valley, its name changed in Lynnmour to St. Denis. The City Directories list the Lynnmour Grocery which is the southern neighbor of 652 as being on St. Denis up to 1948.  In 1949 the address was listed at Mountain Highway.  However, remnants of St.Denis Avenue still exist on the east side of the Upper Levels Highway. The 2007 Greater Vancouver map book by MapArt Publishing  indicates that St. Denis Ave. is the northern end of East Keith Rd. and extends into Inter River Park.


It seems therefore that when E. C. Cave built the house it was on St. Denis and when the Barkley's lived there is was on Mountain Highway.  The house didn't move, only the address changed.


Researcher:  Thank you to Jim Lawrence.
Photo: Taken August 30, 2008.

 

Saturday Travel Feature

Concrete Grade School

Concrete, Washington

Photo: Taken in Concrete, Washington in September 2007 by SW.

Link:

Monday, January 18, 2010

Seylynn Cottage

This perky bright blue cottage with its white picket fence is at 1526 Bruce Street.  "The property at 1526 Bruce St. was formerly addressed as 1460 Bruce St. and was built in 1935, in 1946 a garage was added.  Later in 1959 the garage was moved to the neighbouring lot.  The Willow Tree Family Daycare operated at this address from 1994 – 2006." Elaine Oakes, NVD.  It is a house that grew and grew as west side and back additions were built.  

The house and Bruce Street are the area deigned to be Seylynn Village.  The area was first known as Lynn Creek, which runs to the west through Bridgeman Park.  Next it was called Lynnmour and finally this section of Lynnmour was named Seylynn.  A Sey-Lynn Hall was built in 1950 and remains in the park on the west side of Mountain Highway across from Fern Street which is the street south of Bruce.  A 1961 building permit indicates there was a library in that building.  

Seylynn Village calls for the demolition of the 25 homes on Bruce St., Fern Street, and Mountain Highway to the east of Bridgeman Park and stretching the one block east to the Upper Level's Highway.  It seems only the Lynnmour Grocery store will remain.  The environmentally friendly, mixed use complex to be built includes numerous community amenities and 690 units, 70 of which will be affordable housing.  (North Shore News Oct. 26, 2009.)

Thank you to Elaine Oakes, RM Clerk Admin.Svcs. NVD.

Photo: Taken August 30, 2008.  

Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sunday Church Feature
Lynnmour United Church

According to the City Directories, Lynnmour United Church on Mountain Highway started out as River Avenue Methodist Church in Vancouver on River Ave. east of Fraser St. This was 1915 and the Rev. Wm. Pearson was the pastor. During the 1920's although the location and name remained the same the address listing changed to 941 River Ave., then to 900 East River Ave., then to 945 River Ave. East, and finally to Marine Dr. East. In 1926 the church became the River Avenue United Church with Rev. B. Black as pastor. In 1929 the address was listed as 1195 block East Marine. And finally in 1930 with only a Sunday School listed the address was 1195 Marine Dr. That address was vacant in 1931.

The big change for the church came in 1933. This was the year the building was "taken apart, hauled away to North Vancouver and resurrected at Lynn Creek" (North Shore news 9/21/62). Here at E/S St. Denis it became Lynnmour United Church. In 1944 the church address was listed as both E/S St. Denis and E/S Mountain Highway with Rev. Allan as pastor. The address changed to 700 block in 1957 and 600 block in 1959. 

1103 Mountain Highway

1962 Church Building

At Easter in 1962 a new church at a different site "up the hill" at 1103 Mountain Highway. The West Lynnmour United Church, was announced in the North Shore News. The pastor was Rev. Allan I. V. Dawe.  The congregation finally joined that of the Lynn Valley United Church in 1966.

In 1964 the old church was vacant. And in 1964 the first of a series of businesses bought the building. They included Inanex Woodwork Shop, Pragon Electric, Metallic Design, and finally from 1975 to 1998 Bero Mettalic Design. The building was demolished in the spring of 2004. Now in 2010 the land will be part of the new Seylynn Village Project.


Researcher: Thank you to Jim Lawrence.
Photo: Top photo, copy of photo in The Province, September 21, 1962.  Bottom photo taken in 2005 by SW.  The building is now a residence.