WELCOME TO ALL WHO WISH TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT BRITANNIA

& SURROUNDING AREA CAN OFFER TO OUR 55 plus.


Sunday, February 8, 2009

Walking Club 07 Feb report

Today, Linda, Flora, Maria and I were joined by Lorna from the West End ... we left the Centre at 10:40 am and walked North along the Drive to East Hastings Street to look for wall murals ...
http://www.pbase.com/lcurran/murals for all the pics up to 2006

Along The Drive at E. Georgia we noted the Raja Theatre boarded up ... this theatre has been in the news lately as the recipient of a $2million makeover , rescued from demolition by community-minded people and organizations with the support of the City ... refurbishing of this building could trigger the revitalization of The Drive between Venables and East Hastings Street ...

The first mural we spotted was at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre at 1607 E Hastings ... two identical Haida animal symbols were painted on either side of the entrance where two totems stood ... the friendship centre, originally located at 7Th and Vine, was moved in the late 1970's to this location (a former night club) ... it contains a gymnasium and offers alternative education for 13-18 year-old young people ... weekly family nights take place as well as special events such as the annual display and sale of artwork, jewellery, carvings and clothing items with native designs, as well as bannock and dried salmon ... this sale is held at the end of November each year ...

Further on, we found Ray-Cam Co-operative Centre with a full wall mural of people of all ages and nationalities doing a variety of activities ... this centre is an independent association having agreements with the City, the Parks Board, and BCHMC (which provides subsidies to supplement the board's fundraising efforts to cover operating costs) ... membership and fitness gym access are free to local residents ... a daycare also operates out of this centre ...

Across the street from Ray-Cam is a mural map of Vancouver before World War I complete with three-dimensional drawings of the CPR track, Hastings Sawmill, Alexander House which contained a bordello and provided a home-away-from-home for sailors ... Sacred Heart Church was built in the early 1900's by the Italian Community ... Gore Avenue was the skid road for hauling logs by teams of oxen from False Creek north to the Sawmill on Burrard Inlet ... Flora wondered if that's where the term Skid Row came from, meaning a run-down part of town ... there were many other commercial and residential buildings represented on this map ...

At Heatley Avenue is the Heatley Building, a two-storey brick structure that is threatened with demolition ... Flora and Linda spoke with two young women who told them that a studio apartment in the Heatley, with no stove, rents for $750 a month ... the pastor of their Baptist Church is looking for a new site for the church and these women were scouting the neighbourhood looking for affordable housing for church members ...

Along Heatley Avenue south are six modest two storey houses identical in structure, built from 1889 to 1898, three of which have been restored ... in the window of one is a poster callling for public support to prevent the demolition of the Heatley Building to make way for a new 10-storey structure ... since I lost my notes, I can't recall the website address for people to contact to offer support .
Further south along Heatley at East Pender Street is a block-long building of gray stone, two stories high, with pillars where a grand entrance used to be ... a plaque on the building states that this building was the orginal Vancouver first Jewish Synagogue from the late 1800's ... in the 1970's, with the help of CMHC, it was renovated to provide apartment housing for families ... the long west wall has large open arches revealing an inner courtyard which provides privacy for the residents ... This is now a condo.

Across the street from Heatley Building on the north side of East Hastings is the Union Gospel Mission's thrift store ... at the back of the store, the Mission owns buildings which provide housing, shelter, food and other services to street people and low-income residents ...

At this juncture, we ended the walk with the intention of continuing into downtown next Saturday to scout out more wall murals ... we returned to Britannia to enjoy a fresh coffee and pastries made by Maria's daughter ...

Contibutor Virginia

No comments: