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Originally Posted by johnjimbc
Not sure how much it means but the mayor was quick to point out that the city would still like to make the site a cultural site, perhaps the long awaited location of the Coal Harbour Arts Center (which would obviously need a name change ; ) that was not built due to the new convention center.
I do think there would still be great value in making the site part of a cultural district since the theatres are near by. By building another cultural facility there, it could even help bridge the existing arts facilities to the new Arts Center and existing Science Center on False Creek.
I agree, however, that there may be great pressure to use the land for other purposes, such as below market housing.
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The government actually wanted to build a new office tower on the site, but I believe there was some resistance or problems in accommodating everyone's needs/wishes. Now that the VAG has left, I'm quite sure it's going to be retained as the new Arts Centre in addition to accommodating a new federal office tower. I believe that their ambition is still to do an international design competition as before, although I'm sure there's many issues that have to be worked out before it gets to that stage. So a side benefit to the announcement is that we could potentially be looking at 2 international design competitions and two significant new architectural additions to the city.
I can also confirm the rumor on this forum that most stakeholders didn't even know about this until hours before the announcement. It's a bit scandalous it seems the way it was pushed through without consultation and we'll have to see how that plays out.
I'm a bit mixed in my feelings towards this announcement. On one hand, it's nice to see things moving forward. I'm pleased to see such strong government support, and it gives me hope that maybe we can build something special. The biggest hurdle for getting things like this done seems to be a kind of overriding pessimism in this city that we could never build anything extraordinary or that it's always a waste of money. You need leadership and vision to get things done, and for that I have to give Gordo credit.
The flip side is that I'm not totally sold on the location and question whether the move is going to be a good one for the VAG or not. In order to make it work, I think we now require the architect to build something extraordinary. A building that inspires as much from the exterior as it does from the interior. Otherwise, despite the fact it sits on prime waterfront land, the location is far worse than their current location (or formerly proposed location). It's a fair distance for tourists and residents to walk, far from a transit node, and there are currently no other amenities in the area to draw foot traffic. It really has to be extrodinary to encourage people to visit, and I would hope that the architect also takes full advantage of the location with a top notch restaurant. In many ways, I kind of wish that the Arts Centre was on the waterfront and the VAG was at the formers location. One is more a destination and doesn't rely on foot traffic, where the other does.