An open letter from Heritage Vancouver regarding the city’s plan to demolish the 1912-era Balmoral Hotel is making the rounds.
It was penned March 10 by the organization’s executive director, Bill Yuen.
Have to admit before I read the letter, I concluded it was probably a public call to stop demolition of one of Vancouver’s oldest and most notorious single-room-occupancy hotels.
Turns out it isn’t, as Yuen explained to me in a phone conversation Thursday.
“The common assumption is that heritage organizations would say something quite strongly in these situations, and most likely they would say, ‘Don't demolish the building,’” he said of the Chicago-style “architectural gem” that is on a municipal list of significant buildings.
“But it's not so straightforward. It's not as simple as save, or don't save the building.”
It’s more nuanced than that, he said.
Particularly when understanding the dark history associated to the Balmoral and the problems it caused for tenants, emergency service personnel and the City of Vancouver, which eventually purchased the building from the Sahota family two years ago.
“Whether or not the building should be demolished, should be a question for the people who are connected to the building more than it is a question for us,” Yuen said.
“If we go out and say don't demolish it, then what happens if it doesn't serve these people — if it's not what they need?”
'Heritage work is stories'
At the same time, Yuen is advocating that stories of people who lived in the Balmoral, or who have a connection to the building, should be preserved somehow in an oral history. Good or bad, the city’s history is important to document, he said.
“An important part of heritage work is stories,” he said. “Maybe we can help disadvantaged people feel safe and create space for them to tell their stories so that the public better understands the history of the site.”
Yuen was clear he doesn’t think Heritage Vancouver should lead such an exercise, or impose its view, but would be willing to assist in whatever form best suits the people who want to share their stories about the Balmoral.
Many tenants of the hotel were Indigenous.
Which adds another dimension to the pending demolition of the building.
As we’ve seen across the country, as more horrific stories emerge about Canada’s residential school system and unmarked graves, some of the schools are still standing. Some believe they should remain intact to remind all Canadians about the country’s dreadful history, while others want them burned to the ground.
I have yet to hear from someone who wants to preserve the Balmoral.
It’s important to note though that anti-poverty advocates fought for years for better conditions in the hotel and blame the city for letting the Balmoral fall into such disrepair, which triggered its closure in 2017 and sale in 2020.
'Underinvestment and mismanagement'
Fast forward to 2022 and the building is coming down.
The city’s chief building official issued an order Feb. 15 requiring the Balmoral to be demolished “due to numerous life-safety concerns."
“The building poses a risk of injury to the public and persons adjacent to the building in the event of a fire or similar incident,” the city said in announcing the order.
“Despite the city’s ongoing efforts to maintain the safety of the building, the decades of underinvestment and mismanagement by the building’s previous owners was irreversible.”
The city said that after receiving two third-party engineering reports on the current fire and structural risks, it became clear the hotel has deteriorated to the point that it poses a danger to the public and adjacent buildings.
In 2017, then-deputy city manager Paul Mochrie — now city manager — told reporters it would cost several million dollars to stabilize the Balmoral. More repairs would then be needed to fix up rooms and the hotel’s electrical and plumbing systems.
Which brings us back to the purpose of Yuen’s letter, which was to have people think about heritage as more than just saving or preserving buildings considered important by architects and historians.
The Balmoral being a discussion point and example of that perspective.
“The question of who has the power to decide the meanings of the Balmoral Hotel matters a great deal,” Yuen said in his letter.
“This is especially true because we know there are many people with real and difficult experiences with the Balmoral and the Downtown Eastside who are not in a position to see the building as an architectural gem. This is a very important and difficult urban history in the Downtown Eastside that is not part of the official heritage account.”
@Howellings
