PANTAGES THEATRE
Demolition permit
issued to raze movie house
 |
The old Pantages Theatre on East
Hastings is likely to be
demolished in a few days. The back of the building is
already being ripped apart.
It's curtains for
the Pantages Theatre, Vancouver 's
oldest vaudeville/ movie house.BY JOHN MACKIE
The century old
landmark at 144-150 East Hastings near Main
will probably be torn down in the next couple of days, after the city issued a
demolition permit for the site.
"They've been
chewing away next door, so [demolition is] imminent," said Don Luxton of
Heritage Vancouver. "They've already started ripping out the backs of the
buildings."
Several groups have
attempted to revive the Pantages, which was the oldest theatre remaining from a
legendary chain of vaudeville palaces that Alexander Pantages built across North America .
It has been vacant
since 1994, and has been rotting inside from rain seeping in through a damaged
roof, a text-book case of what heritage activists call
"demolition through neglect."
"I think it's a
tragic and irreversible loss," said Luxton. "We're losing what was clearly
recognized as a historic theatre. We can't get it back now, it's gone."
Demolition permits
have also been issued for the four adjacent properties at 130, 132, 134 and 138
East Hastings ,
which means there will soon be another big empty lot in the troubled Downtown
Eastside.
Will Johnston of the city's
licences and inspections department said no plans have been approved to redevelop
the site.
The Pantages was
built in 1907-08 in the middle of Vancouver 's
original downtown.
It was converted to
a movie house in the late 1920s, and in the early '30S survived a fire in the
projectionist's booth and a bomb that was thrown into the theatre during a
labour meeting. It had several names over its lifetime, including the Royal,
State, Queen, Avon and City Nights. It last
operated as the Sung Sing, a Chinese-language theatre.
--The Vancouver
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