Ghost sign revealed on Commercial Drive
Posted June 21, 2012 11:27 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A long-lost piece of Vancouver history has been uncovered by construction crews on Commercial Drive at East Georgia.
The renovation of the 1913 York Theatre has revealed another “ghost sign.”
When workers started stripping stucco off the bricks of the south wall, a faded but legible black and white sign emerged reading “Little Theatre.”
Tom Durrie headed up the task force that helped saved the York, and says the Vancouver Little Theatre Society bought the building in 1923.
“The Little Theatre movement was pretty big all over North America at the time, sort of semi-professional and amateur. They ran it very successfully right up until 1977 when they wound down and sold it,” he says.
He says it has an amazing history, with almost every famous actor and actress coming out of Vancouver walking across that stage at one time or another.
“This actually was the local theatre that was running all year long. Most of the other theatres were showing touring shows,” explains Durrie.
He says when the York was built back in 1913 there were twelve legitimate theatres in Vancouver, big and small.
“The last one that we lost, sadly, was the wonderful Pantages on Hastings built in 1908. It was a tragedy to lose that beautiful theatre, seating 850. It would have been a fabulous addition to the cultural scene in Vancouver, ” he says.
Durrie figures the “Little Theatre” sign won’t be kept given the condition of the bricks.
However, the name “Little Theatre” will be incorporated into the new York Theatre, once it’s renovated in about a year.
Other recently uncovered ghost signs in Vancouver include Shelley’s Bakery on Victoria Drive – which was saved – and 1922’s Grandma’s Boy on Granville near Robson, which was torn down.
