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麻豆传媒映画is 129 years old and our streets have many homes, buildings and features that reflect our history.
But our city is also a vibrant place that continues to grow and evolve. How do we preserve our past so we can appreciate and learn from it while we move forward to meet the needs of our residents?
That鈥檚 where the City of 麻豆传媒映画plays an important role in guiding the way 鈥� and here are 10 things you might not know about how we do it.
(But first: what is heritage? While heritage can mean a lot of different things, at the City of Vancouver, we鈥檙e talking about historically and culturally significant buildings, monuments, and other sites.)
1. Our Heritage Conservation program was established in 1986.
The same year as Expo, we established our Heritage Conservation program! Photo from the 麻豆传媒映画Archives, .
麻豆传媒映画City Council established its Heritage Conservation Program in 1986, the year of Vancouver鈥檚 centennial. The program includes tools and incentives to protect and encourage the restoration and rehabilitation of heritage sites, the 麻豆传媒映画Heritage Register, and a public education component.
For example, the City can sometimes offer owners and developers incentives to conserve a heritage building such as allowing more density, relaxation of certain by-laws, or fast-tracking permits.
City Council can also use a number of protective measures - including heritage designation and聽heritage revitalization agreements - to save and restore our valuable sites for future generations.
2. We launched a Heritage Action Plan in 2013 to improve our conservation efforts.
Currently, the is underway. City staff and a consultant team are doing a comprehensive review of the heritage program to聽improve how聽the City supports heritage conservation in 麻豆传媒映画and update the Heritage Register (More on the register in the next point!).
3. What鈥檚 the 麻豆传媒映画Heritage Register? It鈥檚 our key list of city buildings and resources that have heritage value or character.
The 麻豆传媒映画Heritage Register (VHR) is the cornerstone of the Heritage Program. It identifies buildings or resources which have heritage value or character. Sites listed on the VHR represent examples of various periods of development in our history. The VHR does not include every 鈥渙ld鈥� building or resource in the city. About 25 per cent of the places on the Register are protected through special designations or agreements. The City's long term goal is to protect, through voluntary designation, as many resources on the 麻豆传媒映画Heritage Register as possible.
The City will be starting an update of the Register this year and we鈥檒l be reaching out to the public to ask for nominations starting May 23.
4. Sadly, the City can鈥檛 buy and save every house or building in Vancouver.
Unfortunately, it鈥檚 not financially feasible for the City to buy and save every old house or building in Vancouver鈥攁nd property owners have certain rights on the use of their land.
The goal of heritage conservation, instead, is to help retain significant examples of heritage buildings in our city, and to provide the best tools and incentives available to encourage more owners and developers to protect heritage.
5. But there are 2200 buildings and 105 landscape resources on the Heritage Register!
Miramar at 3333 The Crescent, one of the buildings on our heritage register.
Landscape resources are defined as parks and landscapes, trees, and monuments.
The Register also includes 21 protected building interiors including the Stanley Theatre lobby, and the banking hall of the former Bank of Montreal (now SFU business school) at Granville and West Pender streets.
6. Did you know the central median of the Cambie Boulevard is on the heritage list?
There are 13 landscapes on the Heritage Register, including the central median of the Cambie Boulevard from King Edward to Southwest Marine Drive which is largely the product of the 1930 鈥楶lan for the City of Vancouver鈥� a grand urban master plan for beautifying the city. (The 麻豆传媒映画Archives has of the Plan here, and you can read the on the Internet Archive!)
7. Hastings Mill Store is the oldest building on the Heritage Register.
Photo of the Hastings Mill Store by .
Hastings Mill Store (built 1865) was located at the former Hastings Mill site at the foot of Dunlevy Street in Burrard Inlet. The building was moved to its present location at 1575 Alma Street in 1930 and opened a year later as a museum by the Native Daughters of British Columbia which continues to operate the museum today.
8. Sun Yat Sen Gardens is the youngest location on the Heritage Register.
Completed in 1986, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden and Park is the most recent resource on the Heritage Register. It was designed to traditional Ming Dynasty principles with four essential elements of rocks, water, plants and architecture and built using traditional techniques. The design also adheres to the principles of classical Chinese gardens focused on harmony, longevity and prosperity.
9. The shallowest building in the world is on our Heritage Register.
Photo of the Sam Kee Building by .
At six-feet wide the Sam Kee building at 8 West Pender Street is the 鈥渟hallowest building in the world鈥� according to the Guinness Book of Records. Additional floor space is provided by projecting bay windows on the second floor and the basement which extends beneath the sidewalk.
10. And a boat is on the Heritage Register!
Photo of the St Roch by .
The St. Roch is a National Historic Site of Canada which is dry docked at the Maritime Museum in Kitsilano Point (1905 Ogden Avenue). The restored schooner is an auxiliary Royal Canadian Mounted Police vessel, which in 1944 was the first ship to cross from the Pacific to the Atlantic through the Northwest Passage.
Want to see what else is on the 麻豆传媒映画Heritage Register? Find out !
Or, learn more about how the City protects heritage properties, including details about our Heritage Action Plan .
