How do you say goodbye to a neighbourhood? You can’t when it’s your home.
There are a lot of places to locate a newspaper office, and some of them are awful: corporate towers downtown, business parks on the edge of the city. The Courier, appropriately, has always made its home in a neighbourhood setting. For decades it was Kerrisdale, and for the past quarter century it’s been South Granville.
This weekend we move offices and head east to Mount Pleasant. We’re excited about the move but sad about our departure. This neighbourhood has changed and grown, and we’ve changed and grown along with it. It fed us, provided for us, entertained us and gave us refuge, whether in indie coffee shops or tree-lined streets and parks where we could escape. It was a central jumping off point to news events throughout the city, and Granville Street itself was the lifeblood of an evolving urban culture.
So now we say goodbye. We’ve collected a few thoughts and memories of this area we love and called home.
Thank you, South Granville, for 25 years. We leave here, and we take you with us.
— Barry Link, editor
VIVE LA FRANCOPHONIE
Megan Stewart, sports editor
Ask anyone. The tucked-away bistro with the classic well-seasoned dishes, the daily crepe that sells out too fast, wine at noon but never ketchup, is known simply as the French Place. The servers, all of them full-lipped beautiful and encouraging when you order moules instead of mussels, but won’t ever bring you a second cup of coffee, represent la francophonie with Parisian and Quebecois accents alike.
In our office, if you return to the newsroom with take-away fries enough times in a single week to draw suspicion (otherwise known as twice), your curious colleagues will start placing bets on your due date. This happens because it happened. One of us did crave French Place frites during her pregnancy. Of course she did. They’re delicious.
The French Place, attached to a bustling cultural centre and its film and book libraries, live theatre and language lessons, dates to 1990. If you’re calling for reservations, look for Café Salade de Fruits on West Seventh.
PARADISE ALLEY
Don Delayen, director automotive sales
What I’m going to miss most is the quirky and unique vibe of the office and its immediate surroundings. Thankfully I can’t say I’ve lived under a bridge but I can say I’ve worked under one.
And the back alley route off Granville to the parking required alert and precision driving at both ends of the alley; dodging commercial trucks at the neighbouring Windsor Plywood or negotiating the hairpin turn while keeping your side mirrors intact. New drivers need not attempt.
The office building itself had the charm of the canvas tent from your favourite childhood memories — always too cold in the fall and too warm in summer. And like the canvass tent floor, you’d never dare practise your “upward facing dog” yoga pose on the Courier carpet. But although buildings come and go, the fond memories of our time off Granville will remain.
FOR THE BIRDS
Sandra Thomas, lifestyles and travel editor
Not sure who’s responsible, but every morning for years, someone’s been scattering bird seed under the Fir Street exit of the Granville Bridge at West Seventh Avenue. I’ve never seen the person, but often wondered who was behind such a kind act.
The location is also a popular one for some of the area’s homeless, who often create crude cardboard shelters under the bridge in an attempt to shield themselves from the cold. One might guess the two are related, but until we hear otherwise the identity of this bird lover will remain a mystery.
A HOME IN THE MARKET
Martha Perkins, executive director FundAid
Granville Island Market is an almost nightly destination during my walk home from work. The ritual is part of why I love this most walkable of cities and why I’m mourning its loss as we move. The relationships I’ve forged with my favourite vendors are personal, not just based on business transactions. I’ve talked politics while buying candied ginger at The Grainry, pondered the meaning of life while picking out the best steak at Armando’s, and turned the young French staff at Rotisserie into my “It’s been a long day and I’m too tired to cook” demi-gods. And then, as I wait for the Aquabus to take me across False Creek for the penultimate leg of the journey, there’s the daily, most wonderful text to my husband: “Heading home. Can’t wait to see you!”
PAPER CHASE
Mike Howell, reporter
When I rattle the old brain’s storage locker for memories of my days working in the South Granville neighbourhood, it’s the cafes, the restaurants and a once-thriving newspaper community that comes to mind. Sadly, most of the eating and drinking haunts are gone, as is the Pacific Press building between Sixth and Seventh avenues and the press club across the street.
Remember The Normandy restaurant? The one with the nattily attired host? A fire destroyed it. The Aristocratic at Broadway and Granville? Now a Chapters. The Big News coffee shop at the same intersection? Now an art gallery. Mayfair News on Broadway is still there, a place I was introduced to when I worked as a gopher for the Vancouver Sun and had to pick up newspapers from around the world to bring back to the office. That’s when Denny Boyd was still on the job. That’s when the Sun’s editorial floor used to shift and shake when the printing presses began to roll. That’s when the smell of newsprint was the best high in the world; newspaper junkies will know what I mean.
Now the property is home to a condo village and, of course, a Starbucks. The Courier building will soon be turned into a warehouse for a lighting company. So goodbye Granville, goodbye newspapers ghosts and hello Mount Pleasant.
WALK THIS WAY
Michael Kissinger, entertainment editor
When I started working at the Courier in September of 2002, I was a pale chubby dude who never had a fulltime job. Before that I had been a substitute teacher on Vancouver Island and drove a second-hand, bright yellow Loomis van to work with the words “Piece of Corn” spraypainted on the side in honour of a dumb song my old band used to play when I had more hair and was less chubby. Freshly employed at the newspaper and no longer in possession of the Piece of Corn, I started walking to work. That was a dozen years and twice as many pairs of shoes ago.
From my home in Mount Pleasant, I either walk along the 10th Avenue bike route or the Seventh Avenue bike route, which is a leafy and more attractive strip despite sporting a number of tarp-covered leaky condos over the years. Occasionally I ride my bike but prefer to walk since it’s less sweaty and the 35-minute foot-powered commute means I can listen to an hour-long podcast in a day. I also like to play at least one invigorating song on my iPhone before I cross the Courier threshold.
One time I put the Osmond Brothers’ ridiculous 1972 hit “Crazy Horses” on repeat the entire way so I could write a column about the song’s rockin’ effects on my workday. I’ve never done it since. Walking to and from work an hour a day for the last 12 years has been more enjoyable and therapeutic than I could have ever imagined. And I fear I will lose some of my sanity with the Courier’s new office located an easy, breezy, five-minute stroll away. I guess I’ll always have “Crazy Horses” to fall back on.
CARR DISPLAY
Andrew Fleming, reporter
One of the things I’m going to miss is walking past “Emily Carr and Friends,” an eye-catching bronze statue of the renowned B.C. artist outside Heffel Auction House on the corner of West Seventh and Granville that has spent more time in Vancouver than the woman herself ever did.
Carr was known for her love of animals, and the two-metre high sculpture installed in 2005 captures the pencil-wielding artist accompanied by her horse, dog Billie and monkey Woo, who she used to famously promenade through the streets of Victoria in a baby carriage a century ago.
Fafard uses an impressionistic style meant to evoke Carr’s signature painting technique, and duplicates of the sculpture are also displayed outside Heffel galleries in Toronto and Montreal.
A FRIENDLY FACE IN OUR GARAGE
Cheryl Rossi, reporter
I worked long hours in earlier days at the Courier. One day that stretched into night, I parked in the covered parking spot near the office’s front entrance. The street was dark when I exited the building. The garage was pitch black. I screamed when my steps were met with the echoing barks of a dog.
“It’s OK. It’s OK. He won’t hurt you,” a man’s voice comforted from the blackness.
It was the red-faced man who slept with his dog in the Courier’s carport.
The unexpected barking unnerved me, but the homeless man’s familiar face was always a reassuring sight.
WINDOW TO SHOPPING
Pam Smith, accounting
The memories that I will miss from Granville will be walking on the seawall around Granville Island at lunch. Having the tomato scramble at Paul’s. Window shopping on upper Granville and West Fourth. I will also miss all the great people that I have worked with for the last six years.
I love Pottery Barn. I usually ask for gift cards from there so that throughout the year I pop in and have bought a few things. My favourite comforter cover is from there. It is a bit costly but they sell beautiful things.
I bought my sectional at Urban Barn. I also like the gift shop Oh My Gift, which is up on West Fourth. I have bought a few gifts from there over the years.
HAIL, THANE OF WINDSOR
Naoibh O’Connor, online editor
We’ll miss Thane Pipes, who owns and manages Windsor Plywood on West Seventh. The business has been at that location for more than 30 years. Thane, who bought Windsor Plywood 25 years ago, is a fixture in the neighbourhood and has been a frequent visitor to the office, particularly during former Courier editor Mick Maloney’s era.
Fun facts about Thane: he’s helped run the Cruel Pool cutthroat hockey pool for more than 20 years, which includes a few Courier staff, he owns Rob Feenie’s old BMW, he races cars, he sold us salt for our walkways, he travels around the world to watch Formula One races and, most importantly, he updates us about Mick in his retirement. He also enjoys driving a forklift.
POACHER'S CORNER
Tara Lalanne, director of sales and marketing
I was brand new at the Vancouver Courier and as most people do on their first day at the new job, I was checking out my new surroundings. I had two main priorities for the first day: find the nearest Starbucks and the best place to eat lunch that was walking distance from the office. On a rainy day in Vancouver it has to be close enough that I could forget my umbrella and still remain relatively dry.
Paul’s Omelettery was close, it was an office favourite, and like a comfy pair of new slippers, it soon became mine. I started going there once in awhile and eventually on a regular basis (OK, at least twice a week) convincing myself it was cheaper — and healthier — to eat there than bring lunch from home. I’ve tried at least half of their omelette menu and sandwiches — all delicious — but opted for something a bit kinder to my waistline as my “regular:” two poached eggs medium but on the soft side of medium. They get it right every time! I’m going to miss that place.
It’s a not-so-hidden-gem on Granville that will be hard to replace. The good news is, though, there’s a Starbucks a block away from the new office. The question is: who will be my next Paul’s?
BLOSSOMING THOUGHTS
Janis Dalgleish, sales
The best thing about Vancouver is the cherry blossoms in the spring. When you see the white and pink blossoms you know you can put away the umbrella and break out the sunnies. I love to walk from the office at lunch hour to Granville Island with my camera and take some shots of downtown using the cherry blossoms as an accent.
On the way, there are more cherry trees with different backgrounds, daffodils, and neighbourhood gardens. It is an opportunity-filled walk from the office. I have done it every year since landing at Sixth and Fir, trying to get a better shot than the year before. This year, I was a week too late and they sadly were a little dead, making for an interpretive photo. Next year, I wonder what I will find to match my blossom shot.
GARDEN OF DELIGHT
Dee Dhaliwal, publisher
One of the most charming parts of this area is Pine Street Community Gardens — I’m really going to miss it.
It’s been my favourite short walk for times when I need to go and clear my head and it has the air of a secret garden about it. Running along an old railway line makes it even more precious — beauty in an area that was abandoned and ignored.
I have occasionally met some of the green thumbed gardeners tending to their squash, garlic and tomatoes and more, and actually joined an impromptu “tomato tasting” with a few of them once. What a delicious way to create community!
PLYWOOD PALS
Manon Paradis, sales
Our neighbours at Windsor Plywood will be missed. I think we have all spent time talking to Thane at one point or another in the parking lot.
Over the years they have become a great friends, talking about Formula One, the good old days and listening to Thane’s jokes.
DECK THE HALLS
Jackie Mollenhauer, sales representative
I will miss our back deck.
The back deck used to be a place where everyone who smoked, smoked. I didn’t smoke but was lucky enough to smell like smoke by the time I walked to my desk. Our back deck also hosted a barbeque that was used for our lunch-time BBQ’s. One time a goose flew into the power wires above the deck. It got completely fried and landed on the deck.
Eventually we had to enclose the deck because we had people sleeping under it. Once we enclosed the deck it became a new home for rats. I won’t miss the rats, just the deck.
VIDEO: COURIER CONFIDENTIAL
Entertainment editor Michael Kissinger filmed this video about the Vancouver Courier staff for our Vancouver Special neighbourhood series.
Courier Confidential was first posted February 14, 2013. Watch it to get a glimpse inside our office.
