17 Vancouver Landmarks That Almost Got Torn Down (and Who Saved Them)

In the late 1960s, freeway plans threatened Gastown, Chinatown and Strathcona. Only one piece was ever built: the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts, finished in 1972. The rest died because people in those neighbourhoods organized, held meetings and walked reporters around the blocks that were about to disappear.

That fight set a pattern. A church voted to knock itself down. A province drew a 55-storey tower on top of a courthouse. A carousel was booked for a New York auction, one horse at a time. Each time, someone stepped in: a women’s heritage group, a tenants’ association, a theatre company, a society of carousel fans. The same names keep turning up, the Community Arts Council most of all.

This is the list of places that came close, who saved them and what you can do there now. Several have fall and holiday hours worth planning around, and one closes for the winter soon.

17. C.W. Parker Carousel (Burnaby Village Museum)

This 1912 carousel used to run at the PNE. In 1989 it was set to be broken up and sold horse by horse at a New York auction.

The Friends of the Vancouver Carousel Society raised the money to buy it. In May 1989 Burnaby Village Museum agreed to give it a home, and it still runs there in Deer Lake Park.

Festive Village runs November 25, 2026 to January 3, 2027, 2 to 9 pm, and admission is free. Until December 13 it’s open Wednesday to Sunday only (closed Mondays and Tuesdays); from December 16 it’s open daily except December 24 and 25. Carousel rides are $2.86 plus tax. The Bright in Burnaby tree lighting is November 28 at 6:30 pm. Details are on the museum’s holiday page and the City of Burnaby’s Festive Village page.

16. Mole Hill (West End)

The block bounded by Comox, Pendrell, Thurlow and Bute holds 34 houses built between 1888 and 1942. In the 1990s the Park Board’s plans called for demolishing the block for a mix of green space and new development. The most lucrative included a 20-storey building on Pendrell Street, which would have netted the Park Board $6 million.

A coalition called the Friends of Mole Hill formed to save the block. Most of the houses are now owned by the city and managed by the Mole Hill Community Housing Society. The save wasn’t total: in 2016 the city approved demolishing the house at 1180 Comox.

It sits next to Nelson Park, so you can walk the lane and then sit on a bench. People live here. Stay on the lane and the sidewalks. The Mole Hill timeline fills in the rest of the story.

15. Strathcona and Hogan’s Alley (East of Chinatown)

This entry has a loss in it. Starting in 1967, the city began levelling the western half of Hogan’s Alley for the planned freeway through Chinatown. Hogan’s Alley was the heart of Vancouver’s Black community. That part didn’t survive.

The rest of Strathcona nearly went the same way. In 1968 residents formed the Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association, known as SPOTA, to stop the demolitions. They kept lobbying until the freeway was stopped and the city dropped urban renewal in favour of fixing up existing homes. Much of the neighbourhood’s older housing is still standing because of them.

The area runs east of Main Street, roughly between Prior and Hastings. These are private homes. Look from the sidewalk and keep your voice down.

14. Roedde House and Barclay Heritage Square (West End)

An entire West End block of Edwardian-era houses was scheduled for demolition.

Community efforts saved nine early homes, including Roedde House and Barclay Manor. Roedde House now runs as a museum.

The museum is open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, 1 to 4 pm, and general admission is $10. Check the hours and admission page before you go. Tea & Tour runs on the last Sunday of the month, so the next one should be Sunday, November 29.

13. Carnegie Centre (Main and Hastings)

This sandstone building at 401 Main Street was Vancouver’s main library from its official opening in 1903 until 1957. In 1972 it was threatened with demolition.

The Downtown Eastside Residents Association, DERA, proposed turning it into a community centre with a library inside. The city approved the idea in 1978. The Carnegie Community Centre opened its doors on January 20, 1980.

It’s still a working community centre for the neighbourhood, not a museum. Look at the building from outside, and be respectful if you take photos, since the people around it are using it.

12. Old Hastings Mill Store (Point Grey)

This is Vancouver’s oldest building. It was the company store for the Hastings sawmill on Burrard Inlet. In 1929 city council decided to demolish it.

The Native Daughters of B.C. Post No. 1 used the public outcry to save it. In 1930 the store was put on a scow and towed about 10 kilometres from Burrard Inlet, through the Lions Gate and across English Bay. It reopened in 1931 and was dedicated as a museum a year later by Premier Simon F. Tolmie.

It’s open mid-February through November, Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 pm. That leaves this weekend and the four November weekends before it closes for December and January. The 2027 reopening date isn’t posted yet. Check the museum’s visit page.

Find it at the corner of Alma Street and Point Grey Road, near Jericho Beach. Pair it with a seawall walk to the beach.

11. Stanley Theatre (South Granville)

Famous Players, the same chain that wanted to carve up the Orpheum, closed the Stanley in 1991. It was slated for demolition.

The Save our Stanley campaign raised money. The Arts Club Theatre Company bought and restored the building and reopened it as a playhouse in 1998. The restoration won a 1999 City of Vancouver Heritage Award. It’s now the Arts Club’s flagship venue.

You see it by going to a show. Street parking on Granville is time-limited, so read the Arts Club’s location and parking tips first, and check artsclub.com for the holiday show.

10. Christ Church Cathedral (Burrard and Georgia)

This threat came from inside. In 1971 the congregation voted to demolish the church and replace it with a high-rise designed by Arthur Erickson.

The public pushed back. After years of lobbying, the cathedral was named a heritage building in 1976. It’s now listed as Class A heritage, and the cathedral describes itself as downtown’s oldest surviving building. You can read its own account on the cathedral’s architecture and heritage page.

The cathedral says it’s open daily for prayer and services; posted visiting hours are Monday to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, and it’s closed on statutory holidays. Go on a slow weekday so you can sit and look up at the ceiling. It’s a short walk from Burrard SkyTrain.

9. Hollow Tree (Stanley Park)

After storm damage, Park Board staff recommended in 2008 that the Hollow Tree come down as a public safety concern.

Citizens formed the Stanley Park Hollow Tree Conservation Society. In January 2009 the Park Board approved the society’s engineering plan to stabilize the tree. A public ceremony for the restoration was held in October 2011.

It’s on the west side of the park. People have been taking the same photo here for more than a century, so you’re joining a long line.

8. Bloedel Conservatory (Queen Elizabeth Park)

In December 2009, Park Board commissioners voted to close the dome in Queen Elizabeth Park.

A community campaign fought to keep it open. In 2010 it was taken under the wing of the VanDusen Botanical Garden, and it has stayed open since.

In November and December it’s open 10 am to 4 pm, closed December 25. Admission is ticketed; check current prices on the city’s Bloedel page. The city says it’s about 15 minutes from downtown by transit. On a rainy November day, it’s warm and dry inside.

7. Waterfront Station (Downtown)

The old CPR station at 601 West Cordova was in the way of Project 200’s waterfront plan. One account of the scheme says the station would have been ploughed under. Then the project stalled.

The building got a new job instead. In 1977 the SeaBus started running from here, and that began turning a railway station into the transit hub it is now. SkyTrain and SeaBus both run through it, and you can walk in during transit hours.

On your way out, look up at Granville Square next door. It’s one of the few pieces of Project 200 that actually got built, and it shows you what the rest of the waterfront might have looked like.

6. Rio Theatre (East Broadway at Commercial)

When the building went up for sale in 2018, zoning changes in the area drew developers who wanted to tear down the 80-year-old theatre.

A community campaign raised the money to buy it. It used fundraising, private investors and a $375,000 grant from the City of Vancouver.

It’s showing Rocky Horror tonight, October 31. For everything after that, check listings at riotheatre.ca. Commercial-Broadway station is close.

5. Orpheum Theatre (Granville Street)

The Orpheum opened as a movie palace in 1927. In the early 1970s Famous Players planned to turn it into a multiplex.

A 1973 campaign led by the Community Arts Council and Mayor Art Phillips fought to keep it intact. The city bought it in 1974. It reopened on April 2, 1977 as the permanent home of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and it was designated a National Historic Site in 1979.

The easiest way in is a ticket to a show. There are also guided tours, with guides meeting at the Granville Street entrance, but the tour page lists no upcoming dates (its latest schedule is from early 2025). Vancouver City Centre station is close by.

4. Vancouver Art Gallery, the Old Courthouse (Downtown)

The provincial British Columbia Centre plan called for a 55-storey tower, 208 metres tall. It would have dominated the downtown skyline and demolished the 1906 courthouse.

The plan was dropped after the 1972 change of government. Arthur Erickson’s low-rise Robson Square design went ahead instead, and the old courthouse became the Art Gallery. So the architect who drew the tower for Christ Church also drew the plan that saved this block.

Walk it from south to north. Start at the Law Courts, go through Robson Square and finish on the gallery steps. That stretch is the skyscraper laid on its side.

3. Chinatown (Pender, Keefer, Main and Carrall)

In 1967 city council approved an elevated eight-lane freeway along Carrall Street, right through the middle of Chinatown. It was one core piece of a larger scheme called Project 200.

The Community Arts Council built a coalition of 28 local groups against freeway building in the city. Public outcry killed the Chinatown route in 1968. The province designated Chinatown a historic area in 1971, and Parks Canada lists it as a National Historic Site.

Go on a weekday morning, when it’s calmer. Stand at Carrall and Pender and picture an elevated eight-lane freeway over your head. That was the plan. Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain is nearby, and it’s an easy walk from downtown.

2. Gastown (Water Street and Maple Tree Square)

The freeway would have crossed Gastown too. In 1968 the Community Arts Council started running walking tours to show people what was at stake.

It worked. In 1971 the province designated Gastown and Chinatown as historic areas. Ottawa recognized Gastown as a National Historic Site in 2009.

That 1968 idea still holds up: the best way to understand Gastown is on foot. Start at Waterfront Station, which sits right next to it, and walk Water Street east to Maple Tree Square. You’ll see two rescues on one walk.

1. Lions Gate Bridge (Stanley Park to the Shore)

In 1995 the province announced the bridge would have to be either repaired or replaced, and replacement was a real option. The bridge came close to demolition. Heritage Vancouver, led by Donald Luxton, campaigned for years to keep it.

In 1998 the province dropped plans to replace or significantly alter the bridge and chose to upgrade the existing one. Deck replacement work began on the night of September 9, 2000.

Prospect Point gives you a good look at it. It carries Highway 99 between Stanley Park and the Shore.

Threatened, then saved

Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
Hastings Mill Store	1929	1930	Native Daughters of B.C.
Chinatown	1967	1968/1971	Residents, CBA, Arts Council
Christ Church Cathedral	1971	1976	Public lobbying
Orpheum	1973	1974	Arts Council, city
Carnegie	1972	1978	DERA
Stanley Theatre	1991	1998	Arts Club
Hollow Tree	2008	2009	Conservation society
Bloedel	2009	2010	Friends of the Bloedel
Lions Gate Bridge	1995	1998	Heritage Vancouver

When to go

• The Hastings Mill Store has this weekend and the four November weekends left before it closes for December and January.
• Roedde House is open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, 1–4 pm; check roeddehouse.org for the next Tea & Tour date.
• Festive Village at Burnaby Village Museum opens November 25, and the tree lighting is November 28 at 6:30 pm.
• The Bloedel keeps 10 am to 4 pm hours through November and December, closed December 25.
• Chinatown is calmer on a weekday morning.

Getting there

Most of this list is reachable by SkyTrain. Waterfront Station puts you next to Gastown. Stadium-Chinatown is near Chinatown, and Carnegie and Strathcona are walkable from there. Burrard station is near Christ Church Cathedral, and Vancouver City Centre is near the Orpheum. Commercial-Broadway is near the Rio. The city says the Bloedel is about 15 minutes from downtown by transit.

A good downtown walk starts at Waterfront, goes east through Gastown and Chinatown, and finishes at Carnegie and Strathcona. That’s most of the freeway fight in one loop.

Etiquette and safety

• Strathcona and Mole Hill are private homes. Stay on the sidewalks and the lane, and don’t photograph people’s windows.
• The Carnegie Centre is a working community centre. Be respectful if you take photos.
• Christ Church Cathedral is a place of worship. Keep it low-key if there’s a service on.
• November days get short and wet. If you’re doing the long walk or the Stanley Park stops, bring a rain layer and decent shoes.

Not every story is finished

Saving a building once doesn’t settle it. In 1986 Ottawa spent $38 million restoring four heritage buildings to create the Sinclair Centre. In 2017 it landed on the National Trust’s endangered places list, after a 2015 federal rezoning enquiry floated an office tower of up to 29 storeys on the site. Mole Hill lost a house in 2016. The list of near misses is still being written.

Hours and prices for the places with set opening times

Place	Hours	Cost	Note
Old Hastings Mill Store	Sat and Sun, 1 to 4 pm, mid-February through November	Pay what you can	Closed December and January; 2027 reopening date isn’t posted yet
Roedde House Museum	Wed, Thu, Fri and Sun, 1 to 4 pm	$10 general admission	Tea & Tour on the last Sunday of the month
Bloedel Conservatory	November and December, 10 am to 4 pm	Ticketed; $1 off adult admission online	Closed December 25
Festive Village and C.W. Parker Carousel	November 25, 2026 to January 3, 2027, 2 to 9 pm; Wed–Sun only until December 13, then daily; closed December 24 and 25	Free admission; rides $2.86 plus tax	Tree lighting November 28 at 6:30 pm
Christ Church Cathedral	Visiting hours Mon–Fri, 10 am to 4 pm	Not listed	Go on a weekday for a slower visit

Look at who did the saving and it’s rarely the people with the most power. It’s a women’s heritage group with a scow, a tenants’ association in Strathcona, an arts council running walking tours, a theatre company that bought a shuttered movie house. Pick one this weekend, go see what’s still standing, and remember someone had to argue for it.

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Photo credits

• Vancouver (BC, Canada), Art Gallery — 2022 — 1923.jpg by Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• VANCOUVER CHINATOWN HERITAGE BUILDING – panoramio.jpg by JOHN SMITH, CC BY-SA 3.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Gastown-8.JPG by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Brock House Society heritage building on Jericho beach in Vancouver, Canada.jpg by Buster Laroux, CC0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage 2025.jpg by Canmenwalker, CC BY 4.0 (resized; cropped for the featured image). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Hastings Mill Store.JPG by Iota 9 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Millennium Gate, Vancouver’s Chinatown National Historic Site of Canada, WLM2012.jpg by MRDXII, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Strathcona-Houses-3729.jpg by Vladimir Menkov, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver Gastown 01.JPG by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Waterfront Station Vancouver 01.JPG by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver – Christ Church Cathedral 02.jpg by Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver Art Gallery Robson Square from third floor.jpg by unknown, Public domain (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Orpheum Theatre Vancouver View Of Stage.jpg by MichaelThoeny, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• CarnegieCtr.jpg by Bobanny, Public domain (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Roedde House 01.jpg by Torecles, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Lion’s Gate Bridge.jpg by David J Laporte from Great Falls, Montana, USA, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• And theyre off! (7492800662).jpg by Kenny Louie from Vancouver, Canada, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver – Mole Hill 06.jpg by Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Hollow Tree Stanley Park Vancouver.jpg by tree-species, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• The Bloedel Conservatory.jpg by Sporkist/Taz (http://taz.sporkism.org), CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• RIO Theatre 2026.jpg by Canmenwalker, CC BY 4.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.