What will happen to Vancouver’s Main Post Office building?
Posted March 26, 2013 6:54 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Main Post Office on Georgia Street is one of the most familiar sights in Downtown Vancouver. But what will happen to it once Canada Post moves out?
You can have a say in its future; Heritage Vancouver is hosting an event tomorrow night, looking for your ideas, which it will then share with the City.
The building dates back to 1958, and its defenders say it is a leading example of modernist architecture..
Heritage Vancouver Vice President Stewart Burgess ranks it as the city’s most endangered heritage site.
“For its time, it was the largest welded steel structure in Canada and was kind of a Cadillac building… really high-end finishes, terra cotta… a lot of investment in the art around there… If you go to [the] lobby, there’s quite a beautiful marble surround.”
Other features include a tunnel linking it to Waterfront Station and a helipad.
Burgess says as times evolve, we must broaden our definition of what ‘heritage’ is.
“When the heritage movement started in the ’70s, those kind of Victoria homes were that generation’s heritage. Now, we have a whole new generation of architects, designers, and activists… we have to deal with modernism. How we can deal with it is kind of our challenge.”
The Vancouver Art Gallery has been mentioned as a possible tenant, while big box retail has also been mooted as another use for the building.
