105 KEEFER STREET HISTORIC CONTEXT AND SITE REDEVELOPMENT - Vancouver · 2016-12-15 · race riot of 1907, the community continued to grow. The 1911 national census listed 3,559 Chinese

80 105 Keefer Street | Revised Rezoning Application | Dec. 2016

MARCH 2016

105 KEEFER STREETHISTORIC CONTEXT AND SITE REDEVELOPMENT

HISTORIC CONTEXT AND SITE REDEVELOPMENT: 105 KEEFER STREET/544 COLUMBIA STREET

DONALD LUXTON & ASSOCIATES INC. MARCH 2016 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. CONTEXT AND REDEVELOPMENT 2 1.1 Historic Context: Chinatown 2 1.2 Site History: 105 Keefer Street/544 Columbia Street 3 1.3 New Building Design 4 1.4 New Building Arrangement: Form, Scale, and Massing 4 1.5 New Building Fabric: Materials and Colours 4 1.6 Conclusion 4 2. HISTORIC MAPS AND IMAGES 5 3. RESEARCH SUMMARY 13

NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICY 81



1. CONTEXT AND REDEVELOPMENT

105 Keefer Street/544 Columbia Street site, Google Maps, 2015

1.1 Historic Context: Chinatown British Columbia’s Chinese population increased substantially during the Klondike Gold Rush, which lured prospectors to the province beginning in 1858. The subsequent recruitment of labour from the South China coast two decades later, to build the Canadian Pacific Railway’s transcontinental line, resulted in the establishment of substantial Chinese communities across the province. With the completion of the transcontinental railway in Vancouver in 1887, Chinese labourers settled along the shore of False Creek on what is now Pender Street between Carrall and Columbia Streets. Vancouver’s Chinatown became an established community in the late 1880s. In 1904 and 1905, Canton and Shanghai alleys were created on the west side of Carrall Street, replete with new tenement buildings, grocery shops, tailors, restaurants, and other businesses. Meanwhile, Chinese businesses had also moved eastward on Dupont Street (now Pender Street) from Carrall Street to Westminster Avenue (now Main Street). Despite prejudice and persecution, including the violent race riot of 1907, the community continued to grow. The 1911 national census listed 3,559 Chinese in Vancouver and 3,458 in Victoria; making Vancouver home to the largest Chinese settlement in Canada. The early architecture of Chinatown was, for the most part, Edwardian in style but embellished by some unique ‘Chinese’ features, including recessed balconies, long steep staircases, and narrow passages and alleyways running along the rear of the buildings.



The history of Chinatown was punctuated and ever changed in the 1960s, when the community banded together with Strathcona and Gastown to successfully defeat a freeway that was planned to cut through the three neighbourhoods. In the early 1970s, recognizing the historic fabric of the neighbourhood, the province designated Chinatown as an historic district; in 2011 the area was federally designated as a National Historic Site. 1.2 Site History: 105 Keefer Street/544 Columbia Street The proposed development at 105 Keefer Street/544 Columbia Street (heretofore referred to as 105 Keefer Street) presents an opportunity to explore the relationship between the new building and the historic context of the area. The immediate area was historically tied to industrial production on False Creek and power generation for the Vancouver Gas Company (part of the British Columbia Electric Company, now BC Hydro). The Vancouver Gas Company constructed its warehouse at 135 Keefer Street, immediately west of the proposed development site; the warehouse building is the last remaining vestige of the gas facilities. As early as 1897, the 105 Keefer Street property was improved, occupied by hay, wood and coal sheds utilized by the industries lining False Creek. A Chinese theatre was constructed on the rear of the site in 1929, though it stopped operating in 1934; the building was converted to a Chinese Society Hall in the 1950s, addressed as 544 Columbia Street. The building was demolished in the 1970s. By 1935, the Commercial Service Station had been constructed on the front of the property, addressed as 105 Keefer Street, to serve the increasing number of personal automobiles and delivery trucks utilizing the city’s streets. The service station continued to occupy the site through the early 2000s, when it was demolished. Since that time, the property has been vacant, used only for surface parking. The 105 Keefer Street site is connected to the historic context of Chinatown, which now encompasses the parcel in question, under the jurisdiction of the City of Vancouver’s HA-1A Design Guidelines. Projects within the HA-1A district are expected to follow the established guidelines in order to “encourage contemporary new development that is responsive to the community’s established cultural and historic identity.” Indeed, the proposed development respects the historic ‘sawtooth’ streetscape profile of the surrounding blocks, which is a result of the thin parcels and varying building heights and rooflines. The new development at 105 Keefer Street, in addition to subscribing to the HA-1A Design Guidelines, also respects the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada (Parks Canada, 2010), which prescribes that new developments within historic areas should be “physically and visually compatible with, subordinate to, and distinguishable from the historic place” (Standard 11). Subordination, however, is not a question of size; a small, ill conceived addition could adversely affect an historic place more than a large, well-designed addition” (Parks Canada, 2010). Compatibility can be assured through respect for material and proportions, and a well-designed contemporary intervention can be clearly distinguishable without having to shout for attention. Through attention to these concepts, interventions can be contemporary and yet still be appropriate.




1.3 New Building Design The new development proposed for 105 Keefer Street has been designed in a fashion that respects and celebrates its historic Chinatown context. Specifically, the design of 105 Keefer Street strikes an appropriate balance “between mere imitation of the existing form and pointed contrast, thus complementing the historic place in a manner that respects its heritage value” (Parks Canada, 2010). The design does “not detract from this historic place or impair its heritage value.” 1.4 New Building Arrangement: Form, Scale, and Massing The stepped thirteen-storey design of 105 Keefer Street maintains the historic ‘sawtooth’ streetscape profile of Chinatown and its flat roof is the appropriate response to the existing heritage buildings in the area. The area’s extant buildings vividly illustrate the rapid transformation of Vancouver from a remote outpost to western Canada’s largest centre of commercial activity. The streets and alleys of Chinatown also illustrate the evolution of the historic neighbourhood, as well as the relationship between transportation and success as a commercial centre. 1.5 New Building Fabric: Materials and Colours In general, new construction materials in an historic area should be contemporary and not attempt to mimic the existing fabric of adjacent and surrounding buildings; instead, they should, like the overall building form, be compatible with, subordinate to and distinguishable from the original building materials in the historic area. The colour scheme for new buildings should recall and accentuate the historic colours of the neighbourhood and allow the new building to seamlessly fit into the historic Chinatown context, while being distinctly ‘new’. The contemporary materials and colour scheme proposed for 105 Keefer Street respect these guidelines. The combination of brick, concrete and glass help to maintain the contemporary appearance of the building, while accents like stone and coloured glass pay homage to the vibrant colours and materials found elsewhere in Vancouver’s Chinatown. 1.6 Conclusion The proposed, contemporary design for 105 Keefer Street respects the historic Chinatown context by not attempting to mimic or replicate its area neighbours. Indeed, the building’s form, scale, massing, materials and colours will help distinguish the building as a contemporary addition in an area with a strong and historic design aesthetic; the new building will complement the established Chinatown character.



2. HISTORIC MAPS AND IMAGES

1897 Fire Insurance Map showing the 105 Keefer Street site















HISTO

RIC

CO

NTEX

T AN

D SITE R

EDEV

ELOPM

ENT: 105 K

EEFER STR

EET/544 CO

LUM

BIA

STREET

DO

NA

LD LU

XTO

N &

ASSO

CIA

TES INC

. MA

RC

H 2016

8

1955 Fire Insurance M

ap showing the 105 K

eefer Street site



105 Keefer Street site, 1950, CVA 781a




Columbia Street, 1971, City of Vancouver Archives (CVA) 2010-006-197

105 Keefer Street site, 1970s, CVA 515-24, note the theatre/hall building at the rear of the site has now been

removed



105 Keefer Street site, 1970s, CVA 515-1

105 Keefer Street site, 1970s, CVA 515-2




105 Keefer Street site, 1986 (during Expo), CVA 2010-006.393

105 Keefer Site in October 2006, note the service station building still exists, but is boarded up



3. RESEARCH SUMMARY

CIVIC ADDRESS: 105 Keefer Street/544 Columbia Street, Vancouver LEGAL ADDRESS: Lots 1 and 2, Block A, District Lot 196 CITY DIRECTORIES: 105 KEEFER STREET 1936-1939 Commercial Service Station (operated by Horne Yip) 1940-1944 International Garage 1945-1946 Lang On Service Station 1947 Gastown Service Station 1948 Mandarin Service 1949 and later Lee Bros. Garage CITY DIRECTORIES: 544 COLUMBIA STREET 1930-1933 Chinese Theatre 1934 Vacant 1935-1941 ‘Oriental’ Theatre (not operating) 1942-1948 Jan Wah Sing Theatre (not operating) 1949 Vacant 1950 ‘Orientals’ 1951-1955 Chinese Society Hall Rooms


Documents

105 KEEFER STREET HISTORIC CONTEXT AND SITE REDEVELOPMENT - Vancouver · 2016-12-15 · race riot of 1907, the community continued to grow. The 1911 national census listed 3,559 Chinese