THEN & NOW
/THE PLAZA ON BUTE STREET
The 1920s was a busy time for English-born developer/contractor Hugh Warner who built 14 apartment buildings in the South Granville area and, for good measure, one in the West End — the Plaza Apartments at 925 Bute.
THE PLAZA IN ITS EARLY YEARS.
The Plaza was designed for him in 1927 by E. Evans & Son, the firm that designed most of Warner’s Spanish Mission style buildings.
The all-in cost was some $65,000. Warner was known to sell his buildings soon after the last nail was pounded, keeping the cash flowing and the business solvent, and in one case, before he had actually built it — a precursor to today’s pre-sales marketing strategy,
Warner died at the age of 78 in 1959.
In 1939 The Plaza was owned by A. E. Wilson, who legal records suggest was not exactly a model landlord.
"Damages of $150 were awarded by Mr. Justice Coady Wednesday to Mrs. Bertha Johnson, widow, 63, of 1215 Bute Street, in her suit against A. E. Wilson, 925 Bute Street, because of a remark he made about her a year ago. His Lordship found that Wilson's statement was defamatory and malicious. Mrs. Johnson, whose case was conducted by H. R. Bray, claimed Wilson, her landlord when she was a tenant in the Plaza Apartments, 925 Bute, accused her of taking fixtures. C. K. Guild acted for Wilson."
TODAY NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED, EXCEPT THAT THE TREES HAVE GROWN.
In 1944 one couple were given notice by Mr. Wilson that as they now had a baby daughter. "You must use the side entrance when you come in or go out with your baby carriage."
The apartments were listed in many newspaper items over the years. Some offered suites for lease, (in 1982 a studio was $299 a month), others reported a lost dog, a lost New Zealand passport, and a kitten available for adoption. There were also announcements of deaths in hospital of former residents, and wedding announcements revealing plans for the newlyweds to take up residence. In 1955 one tenant was selling a cascade green Pontiac deluxe sedan - 'with direction signals' - for $2,500, and another in 1957 offered a walnut chest of drawers for $15.
A 1956 ad in The Vancouver Sun for the building, with no price stated, read: "PLAZA APARTMENTS 925 Bute Street West End, 22 Suites Excellent Corner Location. Buff Brick Veneer. Gross revenue $18,000 plus."
To this day, the building still offers rental apartments.
The West End Journal would like to acknowledge the works of several Vancouver authors whose books have served as source material for this series. These include: Eve Lazarus (Every Place Has A Story) the late Chuck Davis (The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver ); Michael Kluckner (Vancouver Remembered and many other volumes); Dane Purvey and John Belshaw (Vancouver Noir - 1930 - 1960); Aaron Chapman (Vancouver Vice and others); Tom Snyders & Jennifer O’Rourke (Namely Vancouver - A Hidden History of Vancouver Place Names); John Atkin (Heritage Walks Around Vancouver and others); and many guest speakers over the years at the Vancouver Historical Society and Heritage Vancouver. If you are interested in Vancouver history, the above are your points of entry.
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Kevin Dale McKeown
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