Tuesday, October 13, 2009 from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm
Meet in Maple Tree Square by Gassy Jack’s Statue

Heritage Vancouver invites you to join Robert Fung, the President of the Salient Group, for a personal guided tour of his Water Street and Maple Tree Square projects – the Alhambra, the Garage, the Cordage, the Grand, and the Terminus. This is a unique opportunity to see the interior of some of these buildings and experience how Robert’s work is transforming Maple Tree Square and Water Street, Vancouver’s historic birthplace.

Robert Fung has a passion for redeveloping and reinterpreting heritage buildings for modern, urban life and for reviving old neighbourhoods as vibrant and integrated communities. Following the tour there will be an opportunity to talk with Robert about his vision and how these projects contribute to the revitalization of Gastown, to the City, to the local economy, to the tourism industry, and to the future of Old Vancouver.

This event is of particular interest to architects, developers, planners, decision makers and people who are passionate about the future of Gastown.

• Project architect Mark Ostry, of Acton Ostry Architects, will provide a detailed look at how his architectural ideas shaped the final building designs.
• Heritage consultant Donald Luxton, of Donald Luxton & Associates Inc., will provide historic background information and discuss the restoration of the buildings.
• Scott Hein, senior urban designer with the City of Vancouver, will provide an overview of the City’s plans for Gassy Jack Square.

The event begins in the Heart of Old Vancouver at Gassy Jack’s Statue on Maple Tree Square and ends with a private reception at the Canvas Lounge at Powell and Columbia. Canvas, a world class, full service venue for special events, is located in the historic City Hotel which was built in stages between 1905 and 1912.

Robert Fung – What is a Heritage Building Film

$100 includes the tour, conversation, and a private reception with hors d’oeuvres and a sampling of wines in the Canvas Lounge.

All proceeds from this fundraising event go to support
the preservation of Vancouver’s built heritage.

Space is limited – click to register online by PayPal
For more information email info@heritagevancouver.org

Heritage Vancouver invites you to a unique opportunity to explore the two floors of the ultra-elegant private penthouse at the top of Vancouver’s finest heritage building. Enjoy the Art Deco atmosphere and the fabulous view, hear about its unique history, and share your experiences, stories, and photos of the Marine Building.

The Penthouse has many of its original features still intact, and is currently the office of Urbanics Consultants Ltd, our generous host and sponsor for the event. Donald Luxton and Chuck Davis will intrigue you with stories of the architecture and history of the Marine Building.

Proceeds support the work of Heritage Vancouver. Tax receipts will be issued. Purchase your tickets early as there are a limited number of spaces for this exclusive event.

Friday, March 6, 2009
5:30pm to 7:30pm

Marine Building Penthouse
# 2000 – 255 Burrard Street

Tickets $100
Wine and hors d’oeuvres included

Online by Paypal
Print and bring your receipt

Or mail your cheque to
Heritage Vancouver Society
PO Box 3336
Main Post Office
Vancouver, BC
V6B 3Y3

Heritage Vancouver

Heritage Vancouver informs our community about opportunities to appreciate, preserve, and restore our heritage structures and neighbourhoods through events, tours, films, forums, and reports.

Heritage structures are community landmarks that are tangible expressions of the era in which they were created and which contribute to the character, attractiveness, and quality of life in our neighbourhoods.

Heritage structures identify and define our communities, connect us to our history and our diverse heritage, and are our legacy for the enjoyment of future generations.

Heritage Vancouver works with developers, architects, businesses, associations, community groups, and arts and cultural organizations to preserve our heritage structures and neighbourhoods.

Urbanics Consultants

Phil Boname founded Urbanics Consultants in 1976 as a firm of land economists and development management consultants.

The firm provides real estate development, project management, and economic impact services to create viable mixed use commercial, industrial, and residential projects including hotels and resorts, recreation and tourism facilities, shopping centres, downtown revitalization and waterfront development projects, and arts and cultural centres in North America and around the world.

Urbanics has been involved in major mixed use projects such as Granville Island, Whistler Village, Westminster Quay, Lonsdale Quay, Prince’s Island Village, and South Edmonton Common.

Why Heritage Matters

Don Luxton, Phil Boname,
Andrew Wilhelm-Boyles, and Christopher Gaze
talk about why heritage matters.

Why Heritage Matters Film

February 9 and 11, 2009
8:00 pm

Norman Rothstein Theatre at the
Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
950 West 41st Avenue @ Oak Street

The Emperor of Atlantis may be one of the most amazing works of art you have never heard. It was written by Viktor Ullmann and Petr Kien in the Nazi camp Theresienstadt in 1944, and has no equal.

This is the first major production by City Opera Vancouver, the only chamber opera company in Vancouver. The opening performance sold out and seats are going fast for the intimate Norman Rothstein Theatre.

The Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre’s current exhibition, In Defiance – Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust, is being held in conjunction with the performance. It documents how Jews responded actively to changing circumstances during the Holocaust. They acted individually and collectively to defy Nazism in ghettos, slave labour and concentration camps, partisan groups, and in the arena of daily life.

City Opera’s next production Pauline, is a newly commissioned chamber opera created for the great dramatic mezzo Judith Forst. The work is based on the life and final days of Canadian writer, poet, and actress Pauline Johnson. The music for Pauline will be written by Christos Hatzis and the libretto by Margaret Atwood. City Opera Vancouver plans to create many works by Canadian composers.

City Opera is a project of the Community Arts Council of Vancouver

City Opera Vancouver , the cast of Emperor of Atlantis, Music Director Peter Jorgensen, and Music Director Charles Barber are honoured to co-present, with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, the British Columbia premiere of a unique chamber opera, The Emperor of Atlantis, by Viktor Ullmann and Petr Kien.

While its score survived the Nazis, its creators did not. When the Nazis realized what ‘Atlantis’ was about, they shipped its entire company off to Auschwitz.

The opera speaks both to transformation and recurrence. It speaks from the nadir of the 20th century to the continued violence and despair of the 21st. Ullmann and Kien, together with their colleagues at Thereisenstadt, created a masterwork.

Among seven characters, two are principal: Death, and The Emperor. Horrified by the murderousness of the Emperor and his regime, Death goes on strike. People are killed but do not die. The Emperor demands that Death resume his business. Death finally agrees, but on one condition…

Faced by the question of how people could perform and compose even in the depths of hell, there were basically three attitudes among the inmates. The naive prisoners were oblivious to their surroundings and did not absorb the full impact of their situation. They saw no reason to change their lifestyles; if they practiced six hours a day before the war, they would continue to practice six hours a day in the camp.

The optimists believed that the war would soon be over and that the civilized world would not allow the atrocities to continue. They would continue to practice in anticipation of their imminent liberation. Then there were the pessimists who said; ‘We will soon be murdered; why not make the best of our lives while we can?’ Thus the pessimists also continued to perform.

Pavel Kling – violinist and survivor, 1928 – 2005

Tickets are $40 available online at Tickets Tonight

Or purchase by phone at 604-684-2787

Tickets are also available at Tom Lee Music, Sikora’s Classical Records, and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre at the door.

Globe and Mail Article – Legacy of a Holocaust Survivor

The Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, the Honourable Steven Point, and Doctor Jaap Hamburger whose parents were holocaust survivors, spoke to the sold-out audience at the opening performance on Sunday February 1, 2009.

2010 Legacies Now and the Government of British Columbia awarded a grant of $10,000 toward the production of ‘Atlantis’. We are deeply grateful for their investment in this extraordinary project.

In partnership with the Community Arts Council of Vancouver

A Conversation with Sue Harvey

The Arts, Culture, and Heritage Forum of the Downtown Vancouver Association is hosting a conversation with Sue Harvey, the Managing Director of Cultural Services for the City of Vancouver about the 2008-2018 Culture Plan for the City.

Sue Harvey will talk about the City’s Culture Plan, where we are now, and where we are going. Come and learn how the City of Vancouver could be impacted.

The following are links to the five pdf reports on the 2008 – 2018 Culture Plan.
Report One: Culture Plan 2008 – Phase One Implementation
Report Two: Review of Grant Programs
Report Three: Review of Public Art Program Revisions and Plans
Report Four: Cultural Facilities Priorities Plan
Report Five: Culture Tourism

Thursday, September 18, 2008, 8:15 am to 10:00 am
BCIT Downtown Campus – Room 890
555 Seymour Street Vancouver, BC V6B 3H6

The Past, Present and Future of Vancouver’s Japantown

Click images to enlarge

Thursday, January 17th, 2008
Time: 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Location: Vancouver Museum, 1100 Chestnut Street
Admission: $5.00; Heritage Vancouver Members free
No advance registration required. Doors open at 6:30pm

Join City of Vancouver Planner Hugh McLean for a conversation on the “Past, Present and Future of Vancouver’s Japantown.” Hugh will present interesting information on the evolution of the area, its historical and cultural significance and discuss where the process is heading.

Number ten on Heritage Vancouver’s 2007 Top Ten Endangered list, this neighbourhood, centred around the 300-400 blocks of Powell Street, was the heart of Vancouver’s Japanese community. Over the past two decades, the accelerating decline of the Downtown East Side has hit Japantown particularly hard. The years of neglect have taken their toll, businesses have moved from the area and there has been a noticeable deterioration of the building stock. Due to a lack of heritage incentives the rehabilitation of the buildings has been minimal. This is an opportunity to have a frank conversation regarding the future of this historic neighbourhood. The City of Vancouver issued a Request for Proposal in December 2007 for an Historical and Cultural Review of the Powell Street area known as Japantown.

Read the PDF presentation

Read the consultants report

Hosted by Heritage Vancouver and Vancouver Community Forums