Please, please support the retention & revitalization of the York Theatre.

Elizabeth Murdoch

Re the Grand Old Duke of York

On behalf of the 10,000 men, who hope theirs isn’t a futile march, I implore you to save the York Theatre. We have so few small theatres in this city and we continue to lose them, a part of our cultural and architectural heritage, as we did with the demise of the art deco building at Georgia and Richards and the Venus Theatre at Main and Union.

I work in the performing arts business, volunteer in several musical societies and enjoy concerts and performances in venues all over the lower mainland. I know first-hand how short we are of small theatre space.

On one hand Vancouver is just turning the corner with respect to acknowledging the importance of the arts and passionate leaders in the field are paving the way for a richer existence for us all. We need our city planners to be in step with this. Please do our city proud, especially as the York is already a purpose-built theatre, one that deserves to be restored and refurbished.

Thank you
Helen Hardisty and Phil Baudin

Helen Hardisty
Volunteer Coordinator
Kay Meek Centre

I believe that Vancouver is lacking performance spaces and that the historic York Theatre should remain as a theatre in our community. The Arts has the capacity to express the nature and soul of a community. This can be seen around the world.

For example New York City is, among other things, a tourist magnet because of its arts community. It is recognized around the world for its arts community because it has been well supported, economically and spiritually by its citizens and governing bodies.

World recognition of the arts in New York city translates to enormous revenue in so many other sectors. It is good business to support the arts.

Ironically, New York City is in danger of losing this magnetism due to the same pressure we feel in Vancouver, the pressure that makes us consider demolishing the York Theatre: highly valued real estate.

Please do everything in your power to maintain this historic theatre and to keep the arts alive and well in Vancouver. It is good for so many other businesses.

Your truly,
Edward Henderson
Vancouver BC
Canada

Please give serious consideration to preserving the York theatre. Vancouver has far too few heritage buildings which have been preserved. This is an opportunity for the city and could be a dynamic cultural resource for the community.

Thank you for thoughtful consideration,
Leslie Adams

Vancouver needs more performance spaces. In order to be a world class city it needs to support arts and culture – and I know that this new council knows that.

And more…the York is a heritage building. Spaces like this are not built anymore. It CANNOT be mowed down for condos…

There is a plan. It is so close to being saved and to becoming a viable theatre space for this city. It is up to you. Please save it!

Colleen Lanki
Artistic Director
TomoeArts
colleen@tomoearts.org
http://www.tomoearts.org

In The Power of the Arts in Vancouver: Creating a Great City, VanCity’s analysis of the local creative sector, we concluded that the arts play a critical role in the economy by generating the raw material, the innovation and ideas that creative enterprises adopt and adapt into content and product.

To better understand the sector, we undertook a mapping exercise which argued that creative production our community was focused in a “fertile crescent” around the Eastern rim of False Creek: from the Downtown Eastside it runs East through Strathcona to Commercial Drive, South, then West to the Great Northern Campus and Mount Pleasant.

At least, such a focus of activity exists today. Its continued viability and growth is not guaranteed but needs to be cultivated, supported and allowed to achieve scale. However, the prolonged property boom of recent years presents a significant challenge to our artistic community: access to affordable and appropriate creative space.

It is clear that as the “condo tsunami” moves East, artists are being forced out of the creative heart of our city and into marginal spaces and isolation from the broader community, with impending negative consequences for our economy and the quality of life in our neighbourhoods.

In this context, the York Theatre represents a tremendous opportunity. A revitalized York would increase the limited supply of creative space, its location would contribute to a nascent creative district -given the proximity of the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, Britannia Community Centre, and the gallery and theatre at the Havana Restaurant- and it would build on the long history of performance at the venue.

I urge you to seize this opportunity to invest in our community and economy, our past and a future of creative growth.

Respectfully,
Elvy Del Bianco
Research Associate
Vancity
604.767.1493

We strongly support the plan to save the York Theatre. The Commercial Drive Village is now becoming internationally famous as a cultural destination. A 500 seat procenium theatre is an incredible asset to this area and the city of Vancouver as a whole. If we lose it, it will never be replaced. Please vote in favour of 100% rezoning credits for the theatre.

Yours truly,
Sharon Van Volkingburgh
Jim Kinzel
William Butler
Laura Kinzel
Adrienne Kinzel

I first became involved with the York Theatre when I came to Vancouver in 1968, and remained involved with it for the next decade, until the Vancouver Little Theatre Association regretfully had to sell it. It is a fine theatre, and one of the few left on the east side of Vancouver that can be used for live theatre presentations. I earnestly request that you consider the plan to restore the York to its former usefulness as a live theatre venue.

Thank you.
Barbara-Anne Eddy

I rarely make my opinions known in public; it’s just not my style. But I feel that I must share my opinion with you in the hope that you will decide to restore the York Theatre.

I have dedicated the last ten years of my life to the theatre, after I became a lawyer. I have written, directed, produced and acted in many plays – several in Vancouver.

It is obvious to me, and I hope to you as well, that a thriving city requires many venues for live performance. Without live performance, our society loses that human-to-human connection. I trained in the acting technique of the great Sanford Meisner in his school the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Meisner was a founding member of the Group Theatre in the 1930s, when people needed to connect to each other in desperate times, times that are cycling through again.

A large part of what makes the Big Apple so great, is that it cares about its performance spaces, from 30-seat black boxes to 1500-seat Broadway theatres. I had the good fortune to usher and see over 300 plays when I studied there. New York City is North America’s “mecca” for the theatre. Why can’t Vancouver be Canada’s theatre “mecca?”

When we are judged by history, when our city is judged by future generations, do you think they will remember that housing development at the foot of Commercial Drive? Or will they remember that the city restored a link to its past, infused it with life, and gave performers a chance to tell stories in a LIVE venue, at a place that was expressly designed for that purpose? We need to treasure what we already have.

Please see this link for the old photos and current ones, and try to imagine what a fully-restored, beautiful venue the York could be.

http://www.heritagevancouver.org/topten/2008/topten2008_06.html

Sincerely,
Russell Bennett, B.Sc., LL.B.
President
bigsmokeproductions.com

As someone who has been interested in, involved with, and an advocate of enhancing the City’s cultural infrastructure, I commend the Council in its September 9, 2008 meeting for confirming the historic value of the York Theatre and its ability to provide the City with a much needed 400-500 seat theatre venue.

However the 120 day study period has little value if at the end there is a not a viable solution to save, restore and operate the building. If the city fails to act properly the owner has a right to exercise its demolition permit and this valuable theatre and piece of history will disappear on your watch. In my view it is clear. If the City doesn’t want to see the building demolished it has three choices:

1. Buy and or expropriate the building and buy time to fund and realize the project properly.

2 Accept $10-11million from the developer/donor in exchange for higher density to be negotiated.

3. Declare the building a Heritage site if that could be done in a timely fashion.

Regrettably the staff report is the equivalent of throwing a 33 foot line to a person drowning in the water 100 feet from the boat.

In situations like this, when it is clear the project has merit, the building should be saved, restored and operated as a theatre. The City must take a pro-active role in bringing parties together to find a solution or buy sufficient time until a solution is found.

The success of this project will not only add to the cultural infra-structure of the City, but could aid immeasurably to enhancing the economic, cultural and social life of the neighborhood surrounding this building.

I wish to add my voice to others to urge you to preserve, restore, and operate the York Theatre as a home for live theatre.

Herb Auerbach
Founding Director, Bill Reid Foundation
Life Governor, National Theatre School of Canada
Founding Director, Centaur Theatre, Montreal PQ
Past Board Member, Vancouver Playhouse