Disappearing Dunbar (Demolitions): A Dark Day for Heritage in Dunbar

The housing stock in the Dunbar area of Vancouver has undergone significant change in the past five years. Originally a working class neighbourhood with many quite modest homes surrounded by lovely gardens, it is now a neighbourhood that 99% of the people working in Vancouver cannot afford because the replacement homes are built to the maximum footprint and cost millions. Greenspace has been reduced. Included on this website are photos of many (not all) of the disappeared houses.
View Teardowns in the Dunbar area of Vancouver, BC in a larger map

Thursday, March 10, 2016

A Dark Day for Heritage in Dunbar

The Dunbar area has only a few houses designated as Heritage. On March 10, 2016 we lost a house which was designated Heritage B. It was built in 1915 and had retained its character.

We knew the demolition was near because the Vancouver Sun had an article about it on March 3, 2016.

I have long admired this house. Its vulnerability came to my attention when it was for sale in September 2011.

In April 2015, red fencing appeared around the holly tree. I was hopeful that a laneway house was going to be built. That made sense because there was no garage.

And why did they protect the invasive holly tree? In early 2016, my heart sank as windows in the house were left open and eventually broken. The house was beginning to be trashed.

What is special about a house from 1915?