Vancouver Exposed uncovers city you never knew existed

(NEWS 1130) – Eve Lazarus has always been fascinated by old homes and buildings and the stories behind them. The seeds of her last book, Murder by Milkshake: An Astonishing True Story of Adultery, Arsenic, and a Charismatic Killer, were sown years earlier, when she wrote about 2092 West 42nd Avenue, a green half-duplex in Kerrisdale, once home to Rene and Esther Castellani. Her 2018 account of the Vancouver radio personality who gradually poisons his wife to death so he can marry his mistress was a BC best-seller.

Now, this journalist, blogger, and, lately, podcaster is back with a new collection of true stories, many of them about buildings, entitled Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History.

LISTEN: Vancouver Exposed

The raw material for the book came from her Every Place Has a Story blog that she started 10 years ago.

“When I realized it was coming up to the tenth anniversary, I said to my publisher, ‘You know, I think I’m going to self-publish a little book on my blog.’ He said, ‘You know what? I’ll think we’ll do it.’ And they have! So that was fantastic, and it’s turned into this really gorgeous, full colour book,” she explains.

Vancouver Exposed begins in March 1974 when a mock funeral was held for when the old Birks Building in Downtown Vancouver was torn down.

“They had this huge procession up Georgia Street and then did their funeral right outside where the old clock used to be. ‘Meet me under the Birks clock.’ But that really kicked off the heritage movement,” explains Lazarus.

“After the Birks building was demolished, the public outcry that came out of that probably saved many, many buildings that we’ve still got around.”

While we did lose the Birks Building, that same movement managed to save The Orpheum, Waterfront Station, The Hotel Vancouver, The Marine Building, and The Carnegie Centre from destruction.

The more you read, the more you learn there is history hidden throughout the city.

For instance, Lazarus looks at how Hastings Street once had a row of theaters that rivalled New York City’s Great White Way.

“The last one to survive was the Pantages Theatre, which was right next to the Regent Theatre and, basically, it was demolition by neglect, I guess Heritage Vancouver would call it,” she says. “It was a beautiful, beautiful theatre. It was the last one to go. It lasted until 2011.”

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Vancouver Exposed appears in a large, coffee-table format, offering up capsule histories of everything from the Christmas windows at the old Woodward’s department store to still-with-us landmarks like the Dominion Building.

Even CKWX gets a mention. The former Burrard Street home of the radio station boasted a remarkable mosaic tile mural by renowned artist BC Binning. However, some time after `WX relocated to its current Ash Street location and the old building was slated for demolition, the tile work mysteriously disappeared.

“All I can figure out is that it’s either somewhere in storage still and it’s been mislabeled, or someone took it home and has this really nice work of art in their backyard,” says Lazarus.

When asked which of these stories is her favourite, she has a hard time picking just one. Lazarus will say she tends to appreciate the stories that remind readers about a certain time or place in their lives.

“It could be a story about elevator operators in buildings in the `70s or even an institution like the Polar Bear Swim. I love it when they connect, and they then come and tell me their own stories.”

Look for Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History from Arsenal Pulp Press.

Today on @NEWS1130: Remembering lost landmarks and the little-known local stories that connect us all. "Murder by Milkshake" author Eve Lazarus returns to #1130bookshelf to talk about her new book, "Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City's Hidden History," from @Arsenalpulp. pic.twitter.com/tc9BbfUBML

— John Ackermann ???? (@jackermann) October 11, 2020