Lost and found: New book highlights Canada’s lost architectural heritage

What we ignore today, we may treasure tomorrow. That is the guiding principle of a new book about Canada’s lost architectural heritage. 305 Lost Buildings of Canada combines the minimalist monochrome illustrations of Montreal artist Raymond Biesinger with text from Toronto-based writer and Globe and Mail architecture critic Alex Bozikovic.

“[Biesinger] has found that people are really interested in tracing these little microhistories,” Bozikovic explained. “So, the two of us, essentially, got together with this shared interest and tried to pull together buildings that both represented the architectural history of the country, and also spoke to the social history of Canadian cities, for better, and sometimes, for worse. “When we talk about the things that are gone in our cities, sometimes we are surprised by the places that live on in people’s memories.

And I think in working on this book, we’ve tried to bring back some of the places that have proven to have importance in our culture,” he continued. “Sometimes that has to do with the building being fantastic. And sometimes it has to do with what happened there and people’s memories about that place.

” These include once grand public spaces like the century-old Pantages Theatre in Vancouver, which had fallen into disrepair by the time of its demolition in 2011. “And when we look at these places, movie theatres, city halls, market halls, schools, you find places where many people, over generations, have spent time and have often had experiences together with other people, places where folks come together. And it’s those stories that we are especially interested in telling,” Bozikovic added.

One structure in particular, the former Birks Building in Downtown Vancouver, inspired an entire heritage movement upon its demolition in 1974. Locals even held a mock funeral procession through the streets to mark its passing. A mock funeral procession for the old Birks Building, 1974 – Vancouver Exposed Birks funeral.

jpg (Photo: Angus McIntyre) (Source: Arsenal Pulp Press) “It’s interesting to look back now on that period of the late 1960s and the early 1970s, when heritage preservation as an idea and as a political movement really emerged, when buildings like the Birks Building were being pulled down,” he explained. “And, so, heritage really comes out of that moment of pushing back and saying, ‘Hey, wait a minute. What are we doing?’” But not every entry in the book is a grand piece of architecture.

Some, like the former Vie’s Chicken and Steak House, also in Vancouver, are more humble in origin, but no less important. “That’s such a great story,” Bozikovic agrees. “It lives on because a huge number of folks in Vancouver have really been working to keep that story alive.

“ Vie’s was a social hub of Hogan’s Alley, a predominantly Black neighbourhood of Vancouver that was essentially destroyed to make way for construction of the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts in the early 1970s. “The Hogan’s Alley Society now is working to remember Hogan’s Alley as a neighbourhood and also to bring that story to the future and build a new gathering place for Black Vancouverites,” he added. Related article: Vancouver Exposed uncovers city you never knew existed When asked to name his favourite entry in the book, Bozikovic chose Honest Ed’s, the iconic Toronto discount retailer that existed from 1943 to 2018, not far from where he lives today.

“It was also a place that was a landmark for a lot of folks in Toronto, particularly immigrants to the city in the post-World War II period, including my grandparents, who could find all of the things they wanted, in an environment surrounded by bad puns and slightly gruff but friendly service, and a staff that reflected the increasing diversity of the city,” he told CityNews. “You know, it wasn’t about the building entirely, it was about a place where, to some degree, everybody was welcome. And a place that really went far beyond what you would have expected of essentially a department store to become, really, a landmark in the life of the city,” Bozikovic added about Honest Ed’s.

Bozikovic says, as our cities grow and change, we must decide which buildings to hang onto, and which ones to let go of. “It’s possible to do that, if we focus on keeping the places that are really important to the most people, places of community, places of collective experience, and perhaps letting go some other places, even some houses, go to make room for new folks. ” These bite-sized histories of public spaces lost to time or neglect, or both, make for fun reading — almost like a guidebook for a Canada that no longer exists.

“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone,” as the old Joni Mitchell song goes. And 305 Lost Buildings of Canada reminds us of just what we’ve lost. .