I said I would visit the Marine Building again one day after my last tour of it with the Vancouver Heritage Foundation. However, it took another VHF tour to get me back to the building. This time, instead of walking down West Hastings, we were starting a Burrard Street heritage walking tour. Again, the Art Deco designs with the local Pacific Northwest touches is an architectural classic. It’s possibly one of the best remaining examples of Art Deco left in North America. I love the nautical theme that runs through all the decorations in the lobby. Everyone in Vancouver MUST visit the Marine Building at least once.
However, change is afoot. That’s nothing new burgeoning Vancouver. Directly behind the Marine Building at 1021 West Hastings is a new tower going up. The developer has saved the facade of the original building. According to the MNP Tower website, the site was originally the University and Quadra Clubs. At the end of September, there wasn’t much building behind the facade yet. I assume they were still working on the foundation and subterranean floors of the new tower.
Here’s a photo from Bob_2006 on Flickr of the University Club back in 2007. Too bad they didn’t save the entire building. It looks like it was still in good condition in 2007. Perhaps they could have saved more of the inside of the building rather than just the facade.
metro babel 
One thought on “VHF Burrard Street Walk – Revisiting the Marine Building”