Demolition season in Vancouver

Heritage activist Caroline Adderson recently sent me an alert saying a Dunbar castle was in danger of being demolished at 3815 West 39th.

The term refers charming little houses with turrets that were popular on the west side in the 1930s and 1940s. With their turrets, arched windows and white stucco exterior, they look like miniature versions of the Disneyland castle.

This particular one belonged to Jack Wood, whose company Master Craft Homes built the Dunbar castles. Wood built a sister castle next door, which made them similar to the Two Dorothies Tudor homes in Kerrisdale that were recently rescued from demolition.

When I drove over a couple of hours later, the demolition crew was already at work. A giant claw smashed through the roof, toppled over the brick chimney, then crunched up the turret. Everything that made the home special was gone in 10 minutes.

What was odd was that the exterior of the house seemed pretty much intact until the bulldozer started tearing it apart. The arched windows were still in place, as was the arched front door. The weather vane was still on top of the turret.

The city of Vancouver recently enacted new regulations for demolitions of pre-1940 character homes like this. Ninety per cent of the home is supposed to be reused or recycled.

It was hoped the new regulations would slow the spate of house demolitions while the city worked to update its heritage register, which was compiled in the mid-1980s and missed many significant buildings. Whether its working is a matter for debate.

Since December, 210 demolition permits have been issued in Vancouver, 126 of them in January and February. If this pace keeps up, 750 buildings will be torn down in Vancouver in 2015. But it could be more demolitions often pick up in spring, which some heritage activists call demolition season.

Dunbar-Southlands has been the hardest hit area. For the past four years, over 100 buildings in the neighbourhood have been torn down annually 107 in 2011, 134 in 2012, 113 in 2013, and 103 in 2014. No other neighbourhood has topped the 100 mark.

See the original post here:
Demolition season in Vancouver