Burrard Street Through The Years

Burrard Street - North Bound view 1970

My father took this impressive picture of Burrard Street north bound at Nelson Street. What really stands out to me is the total dominance of The Hotel Vancouver in this picture. It looks so close to Nelson Street. Near the top of the hotel you can see the "Hotel Vancouver" sign that spans the width of the hotel. I totally forgot about this sign until I zoomed in on the picture. The Hotel Vancouver is certainly one of Vancouver's most famous landmarks. Sadly though over time it's not as visible in the sky line as it was in 1970. I remember in the movie "Russian Roulette", filmed in and around Vancouver in 1975, there is a scene where a man falls to his death from the roof of the hotel with a huge crowd of onlookers below waiting for the arrival of the Russian Premier. George Segal starred in this political thriller as a corporal with the RCMP.

Just south of the hotel is the old central branch of the Vancouver Public Library. On the right side of the picture at the corner of  Burrard and Nelson is the BC Hydro Building. It is now an apartment building. The first few notes of "O Canada" used to blast out from horns on top of the building every weekday at noon but since it was converted into an apartment building the horns were moved to Canada Place. Other buildings visible in this picture include the YMCA on the left hand side. 

Burrard Street - North Bound View 2014

A lot has changed in 44 years since the previous picture was taken. The Hotel Vancouver is barely visible. In fact you have to look very closely to even see it. It went from a dominant building to almost invisible. The old central branch of the Vancouver Public Library is long gone having been replaced by a new building which includes CTV and Victoria Secrets.  The cars are certainly totally different. There definitely weren't bike lanes 44 years ago.