the number of available tenants for the tower and its desperate owners tried to sell it to the city. Spend some time here perusing the exterior’s lavish depictions of streamlined ships and trains, alongside aquatic motifs like seahorses, lobsters, and disembodied boat hulls. Inside, it’s even more elaborate. Check out the decorated brass elevator doors (and their inlaid wood interiors), the Technicolor stained glass windows, and the sumptuous polished floor depicting signs of the zodiac. Renovated in 1999, the heritage-designated structure is now an office building.
•
Strolling south on the right side of Burrard St., cross over W. Hastings St. and then W. Pender St. You’re now among the city’s flagship bank headquarters. Just past the W. Pender intersection, you’ll come to the Fountain of the Pioneers. An abstract bronze water feature by George Tsutakawa, an artist who created more than 60 public fountains in Japan and North America, it was installed in 1969. When the piece was cleaned in 2003, its newly sparkling, gold-hued look made many people notice it for the first time.
•
Continue to the intersection with Dunsmuir St. and cross over to the other side of Burrard. Half a block up the slightly sloped incline, you’ll come to a slender park space on your left that’s a tranquility respite for area office workers. Backed by a granite-faced waterfall and bristling with hanging flower baskets, it’s a surprisingly quiet spot that manages to defuse the rumble of the buses idling nearby.
•
Maintain your southward uphill stroll and you’ll soon come to Christ Church Cathedral on your left. Nestled incongruously among the area’s towers, it’s the city’s most attractive heritage church. But rather than heading for the main entrance, duck through the doorway of the vestibule at the first corner you come to. Once inside, swivel around 180 degrees, and you’ll face a fantastic, three-paneled stained glass window. Designed by Edward Burne-Jones in 1905, it was crafted by the famed William Morris Company and has many of the rich, resonant color highlights for which Morris himself was well known. Follow the signs inside the cathedral and head up the steps into the magnificent nave.
•
Exit the church from the main entrance at the corner of Burrard and W. Georgia Sts. Stroll east along W. Georgia and check out the exterior of Cathedral Place next door. The 1929 skyscraper originally here was particularly well known for three statues of First World War nurses—one on each of the building’s visible corners—that graced the 10th story, a tribute from its architects to the nurses who cared for them during the war. When the tower was slated for demolition in 1989, a campaign to save the statues for the new building was launched. However, they proved too difficult to preserve and replicas were made, this time placed a few floors lower, for enhanced visibility.
•
Past Cathedral Place, turn left onto Hornby St. Half a block down, on your left, climb the short flight of steps to the new Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. Dedicated to the work of the Haida First Nation’s most revered artist—one of Reid’s bronzes adorns the back of Canada’s $20 bill—the gallery is a compact labyrinth of carvings, jewelry, and paintings surrounded by contextualizing video displays and touch-screen computers. The Great Hall is a highlight: head to its second level for a face-to-face view of a towering totem pole and a 26 foot/8.5 metre bronze frieze of intertwined creatures on the opposite wall.
•
Re-trace your steps along Hornby to the corner of W. Georgia. Cross east over Hornby and enter the Pendulum Gallery. One of Vancouver’s most unlikely art spaces, the lobby of the HSBC Building here has been transformed into a free-entry art space where regularly changing exhibitions enliven what would otherwise be a bland stretch of teller counters. There’s a little café here and the immense open space is dominated by a permanent artwork: a mammoth steel pendulum created by Alan Storey that swings silently overhead.
•
Continue east along W. Georgia and the next building on your left is the brick-built Hotel Georgia. Undergoing a dramatic transformation that will see it paired with a soaring glass tower, the property was built in 1927 and has a colorful past. Celebrity guests have included Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles, although presumably not at the same time. Known as a chic party lodge, unlike the more sedate Hotel Vancouver nearby, this was where Errol Flynn died of a heart attack in 1959, allegedly after spending his final week propping up the hotel’s bars.
•
Cross south over W. Georgia at Howe St. The Vancouver Art Gallery lawn in front of you is the city’s main public rallying space and is frequently used for political protests. In its center is a large, mosaic-lined fountain installed in 1966 to mark the centenary of the uniting of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Peruse the exterior of the Art Gallery behind. Designed by Francis Rattenbury, the architect responsible for many landmark Victorian- and Edwardian-era BC buildings, this grand 1907 structure was originally the Provincial Law Court. Although the gallery entrance is on the other side of the building, this is its more handsome face, complete with Trafalgar Square-style lions flanking a sweeping staircase topped by Neoclassical ionic columns.
•
Head west along W. Georgia and cross over to the other side of Hornby. Stroll half a block south on Hornby and turn right into the side entrance of the gargoyle-topped Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. Griffins Restaurant is on your immediate left (the buffet is recommended, especially for seafood fans). Alternatively, follow the carpeted corridor westward. On your left, just before the lobby, you’ll see historic photographs depicting the property’s construction—this was the city’s third Hotel Vancouver building—as well as the 1939 visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
•
Exit the building through the main entrance onto W. Georgia and turn left toward the Burrard St. intersection. Embedded in the sidewalk a few steps along, you’ll find a colorful mosaic depiction of local bandleader Dal Richards. His swinging orchestra used to hit the hotel’s stage five nights a week, and the twinkle-eyed nonagenarian legend still performs concerts throughout the city. Conclude your stroll here with a coffee at the one of the nearby java stops.
BACK STORY: VANCOUVER’S FAVORITE HOUSE OF WORSHIP
The city’s oldest church, Christ Church Cathedral was the site of the first Anglican service in 1889, when the unfinished building was little more than a brick shed. In fact, uncharitable locals nicknamed it the “Root House.” The Canadian Pacific Railway (original owners of the plot of land where the church stood) were unhappy with the ugly building, claiming it was detrimental to the sale of other plots in the area. With the threat of eviction hanging over it, the congregation launched a major fundraising drive and plans were soon in place for a grand new building. Dedicated in 1895, the beautiful Gothic Revival structure, complete with its stunning hammer beam ceiling and kaleidoscope of stained glass, soon became the city’s favorite downtown house of worship. Surprisingly, the cathedral’s now-celebrated Douglas-fir flooring and its elaborate cedar ceiling were covered over in the 1950s: the ceiling was obscured with “fashionable” Tudoresque panels, while modern linoleum covered the old hardwood floor. By the 1970s, the congregation had decided to demolish the cathedral entirely in favor of a smart new modern structure. Locals protested, the building was added to the city’s heritage preservation list and, following extensive renovations in 1995 and 2003, it’s become a beloved favorite of both religious and non-religious Vancouverites.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Marine Building 355 Burrard St.
Christ Church Cathedral 690 Burrard St., 604-682-3848
