BURST
Next to the sparkling condo buildings of Olympic Village, the Wilkinson Steel warehouse looks like an industrial ruin.
But that’s part of its charm. Its rusty corrugated steel exterior and simple design offer an unvarnished glimpse into False Creek’s industrial past.
“The attraction of the Wilkinson Steel building was the fact that it was kind of this urban ruin, and it’s a big empty shed,” said civic historian John Atkin.
But the 1950 building won’t be around for much longer. The city has hired a contractor to take apart the building, which was hit by a fire in 2023.
The giant wooden beams that held up the structure will then be stored, with the goal of rebuilding it as the surrounding area is redeveloped.
“The Wilkinson Steel building is being carefully deconstructed as part of a plan to preserve and eventually restore its heritage elements for future reassembly in the same neighbourhood,” said an email from the city.
“While the building is not listed on the Vancouver Heritage Register, it is recognized for its historic significance in the Southeast False Creek official development plan.”
The building is at 215 West 1st Ave., which is the same address as a proposed new elementary school in False Creek. But a Vancouver School Board spokesperson said the proposed school site is actually to the northeast, closer to Hinge Park in Olympic Village.
The exterior structure is about 2½ storeys high, but one big open space inside. Most of the physical building has already been taken down. What’s left is largely just the front facade, which is made up of rusty corrugated steel, faded sheets of wood and signs that have been bleached by the sun.
You can still read a black-and-white sign that says, “1st Ave. Plant.”
The area around False Creek was once filled with industrial plants, mills and warehouses like this, but they’re almost all gone.
A couple of cranes are now lifting off the old wooden frame of the Wilkinson Steel building one piece at a time.
“The beauty of these early industrial buildings was that the timber that we had was of such extraordinary quality,” said Atkin.
“You could build a shed like that and use (timber that) spans over the entire width of the shed in one single piece.”
But Atkin cautions that once a building comes down, it doesn’t always go back up.
“It never seems to happen, and if it does (get rebuilt), it’s usually quite trite,” he said.
The city stirred up controversy when it demolished a much bigger industrial building in 1998, the Canron building. It had been instrumental in the construction of parts for the Lions Gate Bridge, as well as many highrises.
Atkin said a gantry crane from the Canron building was supposed to be installed outside the BMO Theatre Centre at 162 West 1st Ave. But it never happened.
“Guess where they stored the gantry crane?” he said. “Inside the Wilkinson building. So where is it now? God only knows.”
Still, he said there are examples of how to restore and reuse old industrial spaces, such as Granville Island. Another example is down the street from Wilkinson Steel: the 1931 Domtar Salt building at 85 West 1st, a large wooden structure that now houses the Craft Beer Market restaurant and bar.
Atkin said the Domtar Salt building originally sat on the shore of False Creek, with piles stuck “in the muck” to hold it up. He said you can still see some of the piles if you go into the basement washroom of the building, a unique feature.
The Southeast False Creek official development plan calls the city-owned area between Olympic Village and the Cambie Bridge “Worksyard,” after a former city works yard.
It is to be redeveloped for residential and park use, but currently much of the site is being used for storage and temporary modular housing.
