Project 200 Information

[officedweller]

Price Tags has posted information and a link to the whole scanned Project 200 document:

http://pricetags.wordpress.com/2012/...#comment-17309

http://pricetags.wordpress.com/2012/...#comment-17311

Believe it or not, there were only 4 office buildings in the plan - the rest were apartments and hotels.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmv/set...th/6852779716/

[Pinion]

Very interesting. I hate 60s architecture, but it sure would be nice to have downtown grow over the train tracks. Seems like every plan for that vaporizes soon after appearing.

[jlousa]

There's no doubt Vancouver would've been very different today if it had gone through. Think there are elements of Project 200 that still have merit for tomorrow's Vancouver.

[Metro-One]

that is how I feel as well, project 200 wasn't completely negative, it actually has some good portions, and I am very happy we at least got 1 tower out of it, which adds some nice texture and variety to downtown.

[phesto]

Thanks for posting. I don't think I'd ever seen the elevations before.

It looks like the taller Granville Square (where PWC is now) would've been about 550 ft tall. It would've been cool to see that one built and give Granville Square a more cohesive look - although it looks like it extends over Cordova, which would've been awful.

Note from the elevation the tallest (hotel/office) tower looks to be almost exactly twice as tall as Granville Square which would put in the 800-900 ft range. I can't help but wonder how different Downtown Vancouver would be if one taller tower had ever made it through back then...

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by phesto

Note from the elevation the tallest (hotel/office) tower looks to be almost exactly twice as tall as Granville Square which would put in the 800-900 ft range. I can't help but wonder how different Downtown Vancouver would be if one taller tower had ever made it through back then...

Yes, it is a shame that Vancouver did not build at least one beautiful, soaring, iconic tower before the politicians castrated the city with their viewcones. It could have served as a beacon of inspiration, of hope and of the possible until Vancouver got its balls back.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by phesto

Thanks for posting. I don't think I'd ever seen the elevations before.

It looks like the taller Granville Square (where PWC is now) would've been about 550 ft tall. It would've been cool to see that one built and give Granville Square a more cohesive look - although it looks like it extends over Cordova, which would've been awful.

Note from the elevation the tallest (hotel/office) tower looks to be almost exactly twice as tall as Granville Square which would put in the 800-900 ft range. I can't help but wonder how different Downtown Vancouver would be if one taller tower had ever made it through back then...

It was to be called Federal Square - so I think Sinclair Centre would have been demolished and Cordova closed.

Interesting bits:

- It mentions a commuter, inter-city, intra-urban and airport transportation hub (with future rapid transit). It would have been interesting to see if VIA would have chosen the CP Station over Pacific Central had Project 200 provided a new station.

- If the office core had a firm footing close to Gastown (rather than moving up to Burrard & Georgia), would Woodward's and Hastings Street have died and become the DTES as we know it? (Someone should do a thesis on that.)

- And look at all that residential space (likely rental) - well before the current trend in downtown living.

[whatnext]

Mercy, fetch the smelling salts, there would have been a freeway that deprived us of that swath of tired East Van homes! And cut us off from the beautiful industrial waterfront, (just ignore the fact wewould have gained a built over plaza to the waterfront) And a North Shore tunnel that would have allowed the restoration of Stanley Park.

Thanks to the small minds that defeated this.

[quobobo]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Mercy, fetch the smelling salts, there would have been a freeway that deprived us of that swath of tired East Van homes!

I'd love to do a compare and contrast between all your posts defending anyone who wants to keep condos out of their neighbourhood and all the ones excoriating people who don't want to live next to a freeway.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Mercy, fetch the smelling salts, there would have been a freeway that deprived us of that swath of tired East Van homes! And cut us off from the beautiful industrial waterfront, (just ignore the fact wewould have gained a built over plaza to the waterfront) And a North Shore tunnel that would have allowed the restoration of Stanley Park.

Thanks to the small minds that defeated this.

Meh, yeah!!! It's a good thing we have small, parochial-minded governments to keep things from progressing too fast, too much, as you say!

[flight_from_kamakura]

they did something like this in sf, the embarcadero complex off justin herman plaza. it's one of the most hateful parts of the city, something virtually everyone agrees is monstrously ugly and destructive to the urban fabric. it replaced gastown-like buildings too (though sf's we considerably taller and having greater mixity of uses). we all know the story of the freeway removal, i'm sure, but the embarcadero center is probably still a few decades away from demolition

as for the development over the tracks, that'll happen someday soon, maybe even by 2020, and it'll be a lot better than this shitty plan, with these shitty towers.

[invisibleairwaves]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Yes, it is a shame that Vancouver did not build at least one beautiful, soaring, iconic tower before the politicians castrated the city with their viewcones. It could have served as a beacon of inspiration, of hope and of the possible until Vancouver got its balls back.

I agree with you in principle, but if Granville Square is any indication of what a giant 60's tower in Vancouver might have looked like, maybe it's for the best. "Beautiful, soaring, iconic"? Ehhhhhh....

[phesto]

Came across this: http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/plannin...lks/w_gt18.htm

Didn't know this building was the first phase of Project 200. Makes sense though; I hate it!

[s211]

Originally Posted by phesto

Came across this: http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/plannin...lks/w_gt18.htm

Didn't know this building was the first phase of Project 200. Makes sense though; I hate it!

In a similar vein, I somehow have it in my head that this little development was also part of Project 200, or developed by parties related to CP/Marathon:

http://g.co/maps/3smqm

Hopefully that link works...

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by phesto

Came across this: http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/plannin...lks/w_gt18.htm

Didn't know this building was the first phase of Project 200. Makes sense though; I hate it!

Apparently, that building was quite revolutionary, as the large concrete exterior panels are structural (presumably allowing column free space inside).

[red-paladin]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Apparently, that building was quite revolutionary, as the large concrete exterior panels are structural (presumably allowing column free space inside).

The building contained / contains the Telus Central office and phone switches right?

[officedweller]

Don't think it's Telus (those are on Seymour).
Used to be CN/CP Telecommunications, so whoever is the successor of those companies - i.e. Unitel -> AT&T -> MTS Allstream

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNCP_Telecommunications

Presumably there's still switching equipment in there.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by quobobo

I'd love to do a compare and contrast between all your posts defending anyone who wants to keep condos out of their neighbourhood and all the ones excoriating people who don't want to live next to a freeway.

And I'd love to know how many many people on East 1st, 12th and Broadway were really excited to have their residential neighbourhoods sacrificed because a few hippies banded together to defeat a big bad freeway. Only the most naive would think some magic anti-freeway wand was waved and the traffic just disappeared.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by whatnext

And I'd love to know how many many people on East 1st, 12th and Broadway were really excited to have their residential neighbourhoods sacrificed because a few hippies banded together to defeat a big bad freeway. Only the most naive would think some magic anti-freeway wand was waved and the traffic just disappeared.

I suspect there were more people living on Prior, Union, Venables and Adanac streets who were relieved to know their homes and neighbourhoods WEREN'T going to be sacrificed to the pro-freeway elites as part of the 'urban renewal' schemes.

[mezzanine]

^^ Agree. Chinatown would have been obliterated with the freeway plan, as with strathcona. Chinatown has been deemed a national historic site by the federal government last year.