Walking Club Jan 30th report

At 10:15 a.m. I ran into Linda at the plaza near the Britannia Seniors Centre ... what a surprise to see her so early ... as we entered the Centre, who was in the kitchen making coffee but Flora !! Double whammy: both ladies showing up early ... Marissa joined us for a quick coffee and we left just after 10:30 ...

We caught the #20 Downtown bus and got off at Carrall Street ... we followed a website printout of a map with a brief history of approximately 15 historical buildings located in the Gastown area of Vancouver ... most of these buildings were constructed in the late 1800's or early 1900's as warehouses and hotels for transient workers and sailors ... Mr. Dunn built his warehouse at the same corner of Water Street as Gassy Jack's saloon ... Mr Dunn held a grand opening ball on the main floor of the building ... the Hudson's Bay Company built a warehouse further west on Water Street to store furs and liquor ... the warehouse was in use by the Bay until the 1960's ... now known as the Hudson building, it was renovated into an interior mall of retail outlets during the refurbishing frenzy of the 1970's-1990's ...

The most striking feature of Gastown is that every building within the area is at least 100 years old ... the only new building is the Unitel Building is at the upper end of Gas Town, across from Victory Square ...

Alexander Street forks off Water Street at the east End ... it was the manufacturing district of old Vancouver and Linda showed us the building where she worked in a leather factory in the mid-1960's when she first emigrated from Italy ... all those old factories have since been refurbished and converted in low-income housing blocks ... the entire street is clean, the sidewalks and lighting designed to suit the era when the buildings were first erected ...

Flora took us to see the office on Cordova Street where she started her career as a Juvenile Court Worker for First Nations youth ... I showed the group the courtyard on Water Street where I worked for a life insurance broker in the 1980's ... the little cafe where I used to have lunch was still in business so we enjoyed homemade soup and spanikopita (spinach pie) in the upstairs eating area that overlooks Burrard Inlet, Canada Place and North Vancouver ...

I remember my first trip to Gas Town in the 1960's when the old buildings were occupied by hippies, the Georgia Straight (at the time a very controversial, counter cultural newspaper) ... many funky shops were operated by young entrepreneurs selling books, musical instruments, Indian bedspreads, incense, Tibetan singing bowls, curios and exotic clothing ... those were the days when young people travelled to the Far East in search of spiritual enlightenment ... they returned with cultural items and icons as well as a different world view of Life's purpose ... it was the start of the New Age in Vancouver ...

Our personal history in Gas Town held special meaning for us as we noted the changes that have taken place in the past forty years ... Marissa, who hails from Ontario, took photos of many of the buildings, as well as Gassy Jack's statue and the world famous Steam Clock ... we were fortunate to be at the clock when it steamed perfectly the time of one o'clock in the afternoon ...

After a quick stop at Canada Place where, under the sails, we enjoyed a 360 degree view of old Vancouver, new Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver and the ship loading docks of Burrard Inlet, we caught the #20 Victoria bus on Hastings Street to go back to the Drive ...

Contributor Virginia