THE TALK OF THE TOWN

/

What Do We Have For You This Month?

Welcome to “The Talk of The Town” for February, 2026. Click on the following links to find:

  • West End News & Notes: An update on the much delayed renovations of the Haro Street Buchan Hotel, a new Board of Directors at the West End Community Centre, a road closure to note, and more.

  • West End Moments: Our community has many talented photographers, and we share their images that capture our lives and time.

  • West End Street & Lane Names: Vancouver’s streets and lanes each has their own history. Here’s the story of Georgia Street.

  • Hidden Treasure Hunt: Be the first to email us identifying the location of this West End “Hidden Treasure” and win your choice of a $50 coffee shop gift card.

  • West End / Coal Harbour In The News: In case you missed it, here’s a round-up of news stories from our community.

West End News & Notes

BUCHAN HOTEL UPDATE
Work Underway After Years of Delays

(click images to enlarge)

The Buchan Hotel on Haro Street has stood vacant for more than four years following its use, during the COVID pandemic, as a supportive shelter for women, run by Atira Women’s Society.

The women who stayed there for less than a year were originally from Atira’s Bridge Housing facility in Gastown, while that venue was undergoing renovations. The women were returned to their former homes once that work was completed.

In the spring of 2023 The West End Journal (TWEJ) inquired of Atira, BC Housing, and our local MLA’s office as to what the plans for the building and learned that MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert and other government offices were unaware at that time that the building had been vacant for so long. 

Follow-up inquiries forwarded to BC Housing by Chandra Herbert’s office resulted in a communication from BC Housing to the effect that Atira no longer holds the management contract for the Buchan (which ended in December 2021), that renovations were scheduled to begin “before fall 2023”, and that no decisions has been made as to future use of the building or the management arrangement.

In August 2023, TWEJ received further communications from BC Housing advising that renovations had been delayed to the spring of 2024.

Their response read as follows: “Health and safety renovations are being planned to improve the overall condition of the building, including fire safety and cooling system upgrades, new hot water utilities systems for units, and exterior improvements.

Units at the Buchan Hotel are not self-contained, but shared washrooms and shower rooms are available on every floor and a common kitchen is accessible as part of the common area on the ground floor.”

The email went on to state: “… these renovations are being planned to be undertaken in a manner which will take care to maintain the building’s current exterior facade. It is currently anticipated that renovations will be complete in 2025.”

Emails from BC Housing also indicated that when renovations were completed the hotel will once again serve as supportive women’s housing. 

And that was the story then. Renovations did not commence in the spring of 2024 and only in the past few months has there been renovation-related activity, other than some interior trash removal in the summer of 2025.

In recent weeks there  has been a flurry of activity, with a full-exterior scaffolding and plastic building wrap erected in the past month.

Neighbours report that in conversations with workers on the site that the project is expected to take at least a year to 18 months to complete, and that the interior is being completely gutted and reconfigured.

In addition to the possible length of the noisy renovation project and the lack of information, neighbours also point out that the garbage bin in the heavily used courtyard on Guilford between Haro and Barclay is now inaccessable and litter is being dropped everywhere. Perhaps something for the City or Park Board to remedy?

It has also been reported, but not confirmed, that when completed the renovated building will be a shelter for women with children. Most neighbours express support for that use, having had positive experiences and made some friendships with the women who sheltered there during COVID.

In the meantime, the restaurant in the basement of the hotel, Robba Da Matti, continues to operate as usual.

TWEJ will be in touch with BC Housing again to request an update on the nature of the renovations, the timeline for the work to be completed, the use to that the upgraded building will be put to, and which organization will be responsible for managing the facility. 

Stay tuned.

 

NEWS FROM THE COMMUNITY CENTRE
A New Board and Program Supervisor

On January 20 the West End Community Centre Association (WECCA) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and elected a team of new Board Directors. WECCA oversees the operations of the West End Community Centre on Denman, the Coal Harbour Community Centre on Broughton, and Barclay Manor.

The new board of directors includes President Linda Johnston; First Vice-President Lindsay Redpath, Second Vice-President Dylan Thomas; Treasurer Mahsa Rezaei; and Directors Michael Diel, Ruth Chau, Matthew Minson, and Minaz Mawji. A treasurer will be appointed at a future Board meeting.

wecca interim supervisor of recreation services kathy sweetapple.

former WECCA president david scott (left) receives the pamela leaman award from outgoing president ian haywood-farmer. (Ken Villeneuve photos)

The AGM also saw the presentation of the Pamela Leaman Award For Outstanding Contribution to former Board member and chair David Scott, and the introduction of the interim Supervisor of Recreation Services Kathy Sweetapple.

ROAD CLOSURE AHEAD

There’s another West End road closure to keep in mind in the near Stanley Park.

Metro Vancouver adivses that from February 2 until mid-March, Chilco Street between Haro Street and Stovold Lane will be closed for work on underground utilities as part of the Stanley Park Water Supply Tunnel replacement project.

barra gitano on davie at bute is just one of many west end restaurants to close in recent days. (bee vee photo)

SO MANY OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS
We Just Couldn’t Keep Up!

Over the past couple of months the West End - Coal Harbour community has seen a flurry of new restaurants and cafes opening, and sadly a matching flurry of others closing their doors.

We’ve been a bit overwhelmed and to tell the truth we just haven’t been able to keep up!

Next month (March) we promise a complete (as near as we can make it) accounting of all the recent gains and losses on the hospitality front.

ABOUT OUR SPOTLIGHT FEATURES

Regular readers will notice the absence of some of our favourite features this month.

These include our Hospitality, Business, and Community Spotlights and the Artists Among Us feature.

We’ve experienced a number of issues (we’ll spare you the details) this past month and, as with the restaurant openings and closings, just haven’t been able to keep up. We’ll be back in March with all our regular features. Promise!

Thanks for your patience.

West End Moments

Our community is blessed with many avid photographers, documenting moments that alarm, amuse, and inform. Click on each photo to see the full image and story. Send your latest photos to editor@thewestendjournal.ca.

And weren’t those some foggy days, folks? Here are two images capturing the eeriness of the moment : Bernie Steininger’s photo of the Harry Jerome statue in Stanley Park, and Kevin Spenst’s shot of a group admiring the non-view at English Bay.

West End Street & Lane Names

West End street names were established when Lauchlan Hamilton laid out the street grid in the late 1800s, and — while some are contemporarily contentious — they have remained. In 2017 the City started naming eight of the lane ways that run east and west through the West End in honour of notable Vancouver citizens, recognizing their achievements and contributions to our community.

KING GEORGE III.

WEST GEORGIA STREET

One of many locations in the Pacific Northwest named for England’s George III (who, you will recall, was mad, or at least a bit testy). Surveyor L.A. Hamilton named this street after the Strait of Georgia.

That body of water was named by George Vancouver to honor the king who had put up the funds to send him and his crew to have a look at the B.C. coastline and check it out for empire expansion opportunities.

After fetching up on shore near present-day Everett, Washington, the captain proclaimed the waters to be the Gulf of Georgia and the surrounding lands to be New Georgia — which fortunately didn’t stick. One has to wonder if George Vancouver wasn’t also thinking of his own place in history in proclaiming so much Georgian place-naming.

Hidden Treasure Hunt

IDENTIFY THIS PHOTO …
And Win A $50 Coffee Shop Gift Card

Have you seen this unique water feature? Tell us where! (click image to enlarge)

The first reader to contact editor@thewestendjournal.ca and correctly identify the location of this image will win a $50 gift card to their choice of Blenz, Delaney’s, Melriche’s, Waves, J.J. Bean, or Greenhorn Cafe.

So if you recognize this unique piece of art write in now! Only the winning response will be notified.

The answer, and the clue to the next contest, will appear in our February issue.

The photos and the information in the answers were originally published in TWEJ several years ago as part of our “Hidden Treasures” series by Vancouver author Dianne Maguire.

LAST MONTH’S WINNER IS …
Congratulations Jean Smith!

The Maple Leaf Water Slide.

The Maple Leaf Water Slide … Between Denman and Cardero, on the north side of Georgia, are a set of four apartment towers. On foot, you stroll past a series of rectangular troughs of water that spurts into the air among large square stepping stones, and slides down stone slopes.

A block away there is a wonderful surprise opposite the Bidwell T-junction that the passing motorist is unlikely to see. From a circular fountain and a metal slide of overlapping maple leaves, water swishes and drips, to one autumn red symbol of Canada at the bottom of the pool.

Unfortunately The West End Journal has been unable to source the artist behind this fountain. If you have any information, let us know at editor@thewestendjournal.ca.

West End / Coal Harbour In The News