Happy Easter!
The Chancel Windows, Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, March 2025
Through My Lens: Christ Church Cathedral
Walk a few blocks down Burrard Street from First Baptist and St. Andrew’s-Wesley and you find yourself at the doors of Christ Church Cathedral. I’ve written about Vancouver’s Anglican cathedral before, on the occasion of its 125th birthday.
In the dozen years since, the Cathedral has put on a new roof with seismic upgrades; built a bell tower to house the four bronze bells that were cast for the Cathedral in Annecy, France; and upgraded and expanded the kitchen to better meet the needs of the Cathedral’s food ministry.
The new roof is nicely visible from this angle; the bell tower, not so much as it blends in completely with the building behind it.
Christ Church Cathedral is my photo choice for today, Palm Sunday.
Through My Lens: St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church
My photo choice for today, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, is St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church. Located across the street from First Baptist Church, this building has been open for worship since 1933.
When the Methodists, the Presbyterians, and the Congregationalists came together in 1925 to form the United Church of Canada, two downtown congregations— Wesley Methodist on the southwest corner of Georgia and Burrard and St. Andrew’s Presbyterian on the northeast corner of Georgia and Richards—decided to come together as one congregation and jointly build a new church.
St. Andrew’s-Wesley is the result.
The late Gothic Revival building was built with Nelson Island granite and Haddington Island stone; inside, there is a vaulted timber ceiling. The first of the 27 Italian and French stained glass windows was commissioned by Prime Minister R. B. Bennett in memory of his sister, Evelyn Bennett Coats. Thanks to its excellent acoustics, the church is a popular venue for concerts. Jazz vespers takes place on Sunday afternoons and has done so for more than 30 years.
The 22-storey tower behind St. Andrew’s Wesley (at right in the photo) is St. Andrew’s Residence at Wesley Place. Income from the 200 rental units has funded various renovations of the main church building and provides income security for the dwindling congregation. The tower was completed in 2002 and was the largest development project ever taken on by the United Church anywhere in Canada.
Through My Lens: First Baptist Church
The origins of what became the First Baptist Church of Vancouver began with a Sunday School class of 30 children gathered at Blair’s Saloon on June 6, 1886. Exactly a week later, the saloon — and most of Vancouver — was destroyed in what became known as the Great Vancouver Fire.
The group picked itself up and built its first church on two lots purchased from the Canadian Pacific Railway. It soon outgrew that building, as well as the next, and so, in 1904, the congregation bought a lot at the corner of Burrard and Nelson for $4000.
This is where they built its current building, out of stone, in the Gothic Revival style. (The Toronto-based architects of Burke, Horwood, and White also designed the Hudson’s Bay buildings in Vancouver, Victoria, and Calgary.) The building was dedicated on June 9, 1911.
These days, Burrard Street is one of the busiest streets in downtown Vancouver, and condos abut the 114-year-old church. Until a few months ago, the building was surrounded by plywood construction fences due to restoration work of the main church building and construction of the 57-storey tower just behind it. The joint project between First Baptist and the developer provides market housing as well as a daycare, church office space, and a separate seven-storey building dedicated to social housing.
Joint projects between developers and old downtown churches have become something of a pattern in Vancouver — stay tuned to learn more.
First Baptist Church is my photo choice for today, the Third Sunday of Lent.
Through My Lens: Holy Rosary Cathedral
It seems like five minutes ago we were facing the start of winter and now, here we are, already back in the Season of Lent. For this year’s Lenten series, I’m going to take you on a tour of the churches of downtown Vancouver. My photo choice for today, the First Sunday of Lent, is Holy Rosary Cathedral. Its full name is the Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, and it serves as the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver.
A church has stood on the site since 1885; construction on this building began in 1899 and was completed in just over a year. The architecture is late nineteenth-century French Gothic revival, a style common throughout Canada during the time period. Its walls are built from Gabriola Island sandstone.
These days, large building projects seem to take years to complete. What amazes me about the speed at which this church was built is that the population of Vancouver at the time was a mere 26,000 people.
Robson Square
One could argue that the most iconic of Erickson designs in Vancouver is the Robson Square complex. Sprawled across three blocks in the centre of downtown, it is bookended by the Provincial Law Courts and the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Long before Erickson came on board, the plan was for a vertical building — the tallest in Vancouver. But the 1972 provincial election brought about a change in both government and architect. And when worries were expressed about the immense shadow that such a building would cast, the new architect, Arthur Erickson, declared, “Let’s turn it on its side.” His vision was for a public square that people could walk through, anchored by the law at one end and the arts at the other.
The Provincial Law Courts were completed in 1979.
The renovation of the Vancouver Art Gallery, formerly the provincial courthouse, was completed in 1983.
The result is what Vancouver considers to be its main civic square. Curiously, though, our City Hall is located some three kilometres away. Why not downtown like most cities?
Good question, but that’s a topic for another post.
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, the landscape architect who worked with Erickson on the Evergreen Building, designed the hanging gardens with its series of cascading waterfalls.
The law courts contain courtrooms, offices, and a law library. The entire complex is multi-level, with provincial government offices above ground and a sunken plaza with an ice rink below, offering free skating in the winter and salsa and ballroom dancing in the summer.
The buildings flanking the rink contain the classrooms and offices of the downtown campus of UBC.
Robson Square takes its name from downtown Vancouver’s main shopping street, which runs through the middle of the complex. That one-block stretch of Robson Street was first closed to vehicle traffic during the Vancouver Olympics, then every summer, and then permanently in 2017.
Robson Street is named after John Robson, a business man from Upper Canada who came west during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1859. He was a strong advocate for the Colony of British Columbia joining Confederation and eventually served as our ninth premier.
MacMillan Bloedel Building
Ahem.
I promised you a series of blog posts about Arthur Erickson buildings that have shaped Vancouver, way back in (checks notes) June.
What can I say? A glorious BC summer got in my way and I’ve been spending as much time away from my computer as possible. I’m sure you understand.
However, I do want to showcase those buildings, and so, here we go.
First up is the MacMillan Bloedel Building that stands prominently in the centre of downtown Vancouver.
It was completed in 1968 and is a typical example of Brutalism, the style of architecture the dominated the middle of the previous century.
Each window measures 7 feet by 7 feet and is a single pane of glass. The lobby is separated from the street by a series of sunken pools and concrete planters filled with trees and other vegetation.
Standing 27 storeys tall, the MacMillan Bloedel Building was the tallest in Vancouver when finished. It was built to house the headquarters of MacMillan Bloedel, a forestry company that hasn’t existed for 25 years. Although it was renamed Arthur Erickson Place in 2019, it’s still commonly referred to as the MacBlo Building.
Dishing: Paul
After the upheaval of the past few years, I am still marvelling at what a treat it is to be able to meet up with friends in restaurants again. Such a little thing, really. And yet such a big thing.
And so it was that I found myself on Robson Street for a lunch date yesterday. Paul is as ubiquitous in Paris as Starbucks is in Vancouver and I was thrilled when I heard that a location of this longtime French institution was coming to my home city.
Paul in the Jardin des Tuileries
The bakery and café’s Vancouver location — the only one in all of Canada — has been open since 2021, but yesterday was my first visit (because, you know, pandemic).
Paul on Robson Street
You have to suspend disbelief to think you are in Paris, though. Although my crêpe aux champignons et aux épinards (mushroom and spinach crepe) was excellent, the size of the pastries we perused in the display case on our way out were supersized, not small and delicate the way they are in French bakeries. And the seating area was light and airy with tables quite far apart, not squished together as they are in Parisian cafés.
But the service was very Canadian and it was a wonderful way to while away a couple of hours with a friend. I will be back.
The Beginning of the End?
Look who’s back!
Yesterday, Vancouver welcomed its first cruise ship in 891 days. Holland America’s Koningsdam stopped for a day at Canada Place, after spending Saturday in Victoria. If ever there was a sign that we are past the pandemic, I’m thinking this is it.
Except we’re not past it. Not really. A sixth wave is on its way and those of us who are immune-compromised or work in health care or have friends or family who are immune-compromised or work in health care or are not yet eligible for vaccines (think babies) know there are still lots of risks. There has been an awful lot of talk about how we have to learn how to live with Covid, which doesn’t seem to give much consideration to those still at high risk of dying of Covid.
That aside, tourism is a billion-dollar industry in Vancouver, and those of us who work in tourism and hospitality welcome the news that our city is once again a safe destination for anyone who wants to visit. The Port of Vancouver has offered shore power to cruise ships since 2009, which means that 60 percent of the ships that dock here can run on lower-emission electrical power while in port instead of their diesel-powered auxiliary engines.
While I was taking this photo, a so-called Freedom Rally was gathering behind me to protest vaccines. I’m not sure what their issue is at this point since all of BC’s remaining restrictions concerning Covid-19 were lifted last week.
As I watched the protestors for a moment, a young man walked past me, wearing a black sweatshirt with the word “Ukraine” in large blue and yellow letters. The irony of the moment made my head spin.
Pandemic Murals
Midday on a Saturday afternoon about six weeks ago, I went for a walk through downtown Vancouver to see what it looked like during a pandemic lockdown.
It was heart breaking.
There was no traffic to speak of. Tables and chairs on outdoor patios were covered in a thick layer of dust. All the stores were shuttered and most of them boarded up with plywood to discourage break-ins.
That was the day when it hit me what this pandemic is doing to our society.
A few weeks later, I heard that many of the boarded-up stores had hired artists to paint murals. So I went back for another look.
Many of the murals are rather uplifting. They certainly made me feel much more cheerful.
This week, British Columbia began Phase 2 of its pandemic lockdown. And so I took yet another walk to see the transformation.
Traffic levels were what you’d expect for a sunny afternoon. Many of the stores — which were never ordered closed, but they closed anyways — are open again with all physical-distancing measures in place.
It still doesn’t look like Vancouver of three months ago, but it’s a glimpse of what our new normal will be.
For now, at any rate.
There and Back Again 