A 麻豆传媒映画time travelogue brought to you by聽.
Entrance to the Labor Temple, 411 Dunsmuir Street. Photo by Lani Russwurm
While the destruction of old buildings gets most of the attention in 麻豆传媒映画these days, it鈥檚 good to sometimes stop and notice the ones that survive and the stories they tell. The recently renovated Labor Temple at 411 Dunsmuir Street is one splendid old building with a dramatic history.
Designed by architect Thomas Hooper, the building聽in the spring of 1913 at a cost of about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It included meeting halls, a large billiards room in the basement, a lounge for unemployed workers, a print shop,听a聽聽to provide low cost goods to workers,听and offices for the 麻豆传媒映画Trades and Labour Council (VTLC), the Socialist Party, and individual unions. It was designed so that a couple more floors could be added in case the need arose.
The Labor Temple was a stop for many prominent and sometimes notorious union leaders passing through town.聽,听听肠辞-蹿辞耻苍诲别谤听,听and聽, the outspoken widow of聽聽martyr Albert Parsons, are perhaps the most well-known. But it wasn鈥檛 just radicals who made use of the Labour Temple; the conservative聽听补濒蝉辞听聽when it became one of the first police unions in the country in 1918.
Architect's drawing of the Labor Temple.聽麻豆传媒映画Daily World, 11 March 1911
Canada鈥檚 first General Strike broke out 麻豆传媒映画in 1918 following the police killing of union organizer聽. As part of their strikebreaking effort, employers sent聽聽to the Temple to intimidate and harass union organizers. The soldiers trashed the place, threw documents out the window and attempted to do the same with two union leaders.
During another general strike in 1919, tensions were heightened by the聽聽atop the Beatty Street Drill Hall a few blocks to the east, which strike supporters complained were aimed at the Labor Temple to intimidate strikers. (More realistically, the guns were well within range of the聽, a popular site for rallies across the street).
Mob attacking the Labor Temple during a one day general strike in 1918.聽鈥淪cene of the clash,鈥� 麻豆传媒映画Daily World, 3 August 1918
Ultimately the Temple became a casualty of this militant period in Vancouver鈥檚 labour history. A factional split in the VTLC 聽聽to meet the financial obligations of the Labor Temple. The provincial government purchased the building and repurposed it as the聽聽in 1921.
The province retained ownership until a few years ago when it sold the Temple to聽. Labour鈥檚 麻豆传媒映画temple is now the Maritime Labour Centre on Victoria Drive, an unsightly but functional headquarters for the 麻豆传媒映画District Labour Council (the VTLC鈥檚 current name) that features a fabulous 1940s聽
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