The Cellar

This is another older picture that was taken back in the summer of 2010. The abandoned building at 222 East Broadway was the only survivor of a mysterious fire that broke out early on Christmas morning back in 2009. Sadly the rest of the buildings at the corner of Kingsway were all destroyed. There were many artist's studios on the upper floors and many lost everything in the blaze. This little building sat empty until the spring of 2014 when it was finally demolished to make way for a controversial condo development.

Years ago I remember hearing that there had once been a club in the building. After doing some searching I found out that this had once been the home of the The Cellar Club. The entrance was at the back on Watson Street with the club being down in the basement. During the late 1950's and early 1960's it was the place for jazz in Vancouver. Many great musicians played there including Ornette Coleman. A few people have blogged about the club and there is a very good link with lots of info here. Back in 2014 just as the building was being torn down I ended up chatting with another photographer who was also getting some last shots of the place. It turns out his name is Chris Wong and he's working on a book about jazz history in Vancouver. He actually managed to get permission from the developer and got some interior shots of the Cellar before the building finally came down!

Back around 2010 CBC Vancouver posted a web gallery of old still images of sets at their studios as well as some old photos of Vancouver that were used as backdrops for their shows. Some of the images were of the Cellar Club. They were taken by Franz Lindner on March 21st 1961 when the CBC did a live broadcast from the club. It's great that CBC has these photos as the Cellar is just a memory now.

The Kingsway Laundry Mat

This colourful storefront is part of an empty complex at Kingsway and Earles Street in East Vancouver. From what I can figure all four stores at the corner have been shuttered since at least 2009. Since then it seems the property has been the subject of at least two failed redevelopment proposals. One was for a medical office complex and the other was for rental housing. The plan for the rental housing failed the City's Urban Design Panel back in 2014 and it looks like plans were permanently shelved after that. Of course as time goes by the corner looks more and more dilapidated as it's been abandoned for so long. It also makes you wonder that in a busy city with rising rents why the spaces couldn't have been rented out. I'm sure short term leases or pop up stores could have put the spaces to good use in the mean time. But instead they've languished empty for nearly 7 years.





























But being Vancouver, the most recent plan put forth in 2015 was to use the Laundry Mat space as a Medical Marijuana shop. Unfortunately the building has not been looked after very well so it's anyone's guess if the space is even useable after being empty for so long. You can see how the corner looked in 2016 with this link to Google Street View. The bottom photo is from 2012 when the strip still looked relatively presentable. Who knows what will happen in 2017 but I'll be keeping an eye on this corner for sure!

Under the Granville Bridge

This old building at 1429 Granville Street was one of only a handful that survived the building of the new Granville Street Bridge back in the early 1950's. Hidden away under the shadow of the bridge on the North side it was last home to H&H Sheet Metal but was torn down in late 2014 to make way for the ultra high end Vancouver House luxury condos. The building was pretty old and looked like it might have dated from the 1920's with its Spanish style facade. But there was a similar looking building just over on Howe Street that was built back in 1912 so it could be from that time.





























I happened to be looking at another Blog recently and came across an old photo that looked pretty familiar. But the address seemed to indicate it was not the same building that I'd photographed back in 2013. The image was from the Vancouver Public Library's Historical collection (VPL-5426) but had the address listed as 1329 Granville Street. This would have put the building much further North in the same block as the Yale Hotel and the now long gone Cecil. But a careful look revealed it was in fact the same building photographed by Leonard Frank back in 1928 when it was home to the BC Veterinary Hospital run by Dr. Trevelyn Sleeth!

G&P Auto Parts

G&P Auto Parts is one of those funny little buildings that has somehow survived at its home at 160 East 2nd Avenue since 1911. It's since been turned into a fancy car wash - auto detailing shop called Ultra Shine. Probably about 10 years ago when the 2010 Winter Olympics were announced I figured the shop had little chance of surviving. But it's still around today and escaped the building of Maple Leaf Storage next door back around 2008. This photo is from early 2012 after the shop had closed.





























Back in the mid 2000's the shop looked pretty unique with its turquoise coloured blocks tacked onto the stucco facade. There were also various car parts on display in the window. A City Directory listing from 1940 has three businesses sharing the address, Triploil Co, Scotty's Electric, and Horie Electrical Equipment. This next photo is from 2006.
















But of course the real gem of the place was the old relic of a sign. It even had the old style phone number which dates from before the 1960's. The TR stood for TRinity which covered the Central Vancouver area. I found a great blog entry that details Vancouver telephone exchanges here. This is a closer shot of the sign from late 2011. The car wash took down the sign sometime in 2012 when they took over the building.

Thrift Shop

The King's Way Thrift Shop is one of those little stores that seems like it's been around forever. Located at 4259 Fraser Street it's still hanging in there despite recent changes taking place in the neighbourhood. Rent must be pretty cheap as the shop is only open a couple of days a week!





























Years ago the little strip of stores on the West side of Fraser between East 26th and 27th looked a little run down and I figured developers would have their way with it and turn it all into condos. This seems to be the case just across the street with several new buildings and the addition of Prado Cafe at 26th. But years later most of the block on the West side is still there (with the exception of the old Bayview Market at 27th, now condos and JJ Bean) and is seeing new life with the likes of Pizza Carano and The Eastwood. The traditional little Filipino businesses are slowly disappearing as the Fraserhood is being discovered. When the likes of Rennie Marketing name it as a destination you know more big changes will be on the way!

The 4200 Block of Fraser Street seen in 2012