ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: 29 January, 2002
Author/Local: Hlavach/6448

Smith/7320

RTS No. 02523

CC File No. 5807

CS&B: February 21, 2002

TO:	Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM:	Director of Current Planning and the General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT:	Europe Hotel Areaway, 41- 49 Powell Street

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT the Europe Hotel areaway be stablized by temporarily filling it in and the sidewalk, with glass prisms inset, be restored. Total cost of $215,000 to be provided from Streets Capital Accounts 10000941-Europe Hotel Sidewalk and Streets Improvements ($28,000), 10000900-Bus Shelter Construction 1998 ($119,247) and 10006429-Bus Shelter Construction 2000 ($67,753);

B. THAT no encroachment fee be charged for the areaway during the time the areaway is inaccessible, retroactive to the date it was closed off; and

C. THAT the owners of the Europe Hotel, Affordable Housing, be encouraged to seek a tenant who would be able to put the areaway to active use, and to involve the City at an early stage in developing a plan to restore the areaway.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services and the General Manager of Engineering Services RECOMMEND A, B and C.

COUNCIL POLICY
There is no Council Policy directly related to this matter. (A list of past Council actions is included as Appendix A.)

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to address issues concerning the Europe Hotel areaway, including: the stabilization of the areaway; improvement of the sidewalk around the Europe Hotel; and outstanding encroachment fees.

BACKGROUND

The Europe Hotel (1909) is one of the most memorable buildings in Gastown. Its location on Maple Tree Square, its distinctive flat iron shape and its ornate architectural design, all contribute to its landmark quality. The building is listed in the "A" category in the Vancouver Heritage Register and is a Provincially designated heritage site. The basement area has direct access from the sidewalk via a marble staircase located at the prow of the building. This basement area extends under the sidewalk as an areaway, which is lit from glass lights in the sidewalk above. The space was designed for active use and finished with decorative tiles on the floor of the areaway - many of these tiles are still evident. The areaway of the Europe Hotel, along with those of the Sam Kee Building, are the most unique and historically significant in the city. (An areaway also was constructed under the Europe Hotel Annex; it is newer and of less significance and it is proposed that it be removed, with no consideration for future renovation.)

Affordable Housing Association (AHA), owners of the Europe Hotel, reached an agreement with the City Engineer in 1991 to fill in the areaway and rebuild the sidewalk. Council approved a plan whereby AHA would, at its cost, build a concrete block retaining wall on the property line and relocate all relevant utilities and the City would fill in the areaway and rebuild the sidewalk.

Work on the concrete block wall was largely completed when the Gastown community protested the loss of this historic areaway and objected to this work being approved without consultation. Council agreed to stop work and approved a study on the feasibility of the areaway being restored. The Director of Planning retained Soren Rasmussen Architect to conduct the study which was jointly funded by the BC Heritage Trust, The Gastown Business Improvement Society and the Engineering Services. (On file, in the City Clerk's Office.) The study concluded that it is possible to refurbish the areaway and restore the sidewalk, and identified a number of obstacles to accomplishing this. This study also identified a range of interventions that could be taken, ranging from temporary repairs to full restoration. Regardless of the amount of work that is to be done, the obstacles have been, and continue to be, both logistical and financial.

DISCUSSION

Staff undertook a review to examine options to preserve the Europe Hotel areaway that included a close look at the Rasmussen study, other design solutions, possible funding options, and consultation with the property owners (AHA) and community representatives. The factors in the review were as follows:

Financial Issues:
· Approximately $500,000 would be required to achieve a restoration of the areaway structure and sidewalk with glass prisms. This estimate does not include interior work that would be required prior to occupation estimated at a minimum of $160,000 but could be much higher depending on the tenant. (See Appendix B for more detail)
· Grants from the BC Heritage Trust for building restoration have been considerably reduced. Successful applicants have received grants in the range of $10,000 to $15,000.
· A contribution from Affordable Housing is possible but unlikely, noting it has already expended approximately $80,000 to construct the concrete block "cut off" wall and relocate utilities.

Logistical Issues:
· Finding a suitable tenant who would pay the restoration costs in order to open a public establishment in the basement of the Europe Hotel would be very difficult under current economic conditions.

Outstanding Issues:
· Continuing deterioration of the sidewalks and areaway structure creating safety concerns around the Europe Hotel.
· Increased possibility of water seeping through the glass prisms and further damaging the areaway and building.
· The encroachment agreement status relating to outstanding and future fees.

Heritage Issues
· Given the heritage value of the Europe Hotel areaway, there has been considerable interest in a full restoration program. However, given the issues noted above, other conservation approaches were also examined. Heritage staff support "stabilization" of the areaways at this time as the appropriate level of intervention, as this will safeguard the areaway from deterioration and preserve its heritage values for future heritage conservation work when circumstances change.

The proposed construction program under Recommendation A, "Stabilization" of the areaway, is as follows:

1. Affordable Housing finishes the cut-off wall and utility relocation.
2. The interior of the areaway is documented with video, photos and sketches by Planning.
3. Engineering protects the decorative tiles with plywood and tarps.
4. Engineering removes and repairs the glass prism panels.
5. Engineering fills in the areaway with pea gravel.
6. Engineering completes the brick paver sidewalk and insets the glass prism panels.

The areaways associated with the Annex would also be filled in and a proper sidewalk installed, but not with restoration in mind.

This solution allows the areaway to be re-established in future because the pea gravel is easily removed and the interior finish will not be damaged. This approach is consistent with accepted conservation practice in instances where full restoration is not practical. If a suitable tenant is found, the City could assume the cost to remove the sidewalk and pea gravel, but the property owner or tenant would have to fund any remaining work, including the removal of the cut-off wall and restoration of the interior. If this occurs, the encroachment fees would be re-established.

FUNDING

The funding for RECOMMENDATION A comes from three sources. $28,000 currently remains in the 10000941-Europe Hotel Sidewalk and Street Improvements fund and can be put toward this proposal. The remainder would come from 10000900-Bus Shelter Construction 1998 ($119,247) and 10006429-Bus Shelter Construction 2000 ($67,753), for a total cost of $215,000.

ENCROACHMENT FEES

The encroachment fees for the Europe Hotel areaway have not been collected since September 1992, when it was sealed off with the concrete block wall. If the areaway was accessible, the fee would be $8,785 annually. Outstanding fees from 1992 total $79,040. It is recommended that this amount be forgiven and that no fees be collected for the time that the areaway has and will be inaccessible.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMENTS

The Affordable Housing Association has reviewed this report and support the recommendations to remove the Annex areaway and stabilize the heritage portion of the areaway. They also encourage the City to proceed as soon as possible.

GHAPC COMMENTS

At its meeting on April 21, 1999, GHAPC reviewed the proposal to "mothball" the Europe Hotel areaway, as described in this report, and passed the following resolution:

THAT GHAPC supports the restoration of the Europe Hotel Areaway sidewalk and would be interested in seeing more details of the sidewalk restoration; and

FURTHER THAT GHAPC supports the retention of the same number of glass prism panels that exist now and questions the need for pea gravel, as the Committee believes it serves as a disincentive for the restoration of the areaway, and is, in the Committee's view, an unnecessary cost.

CONCLUSIONS

Staff and the property owner, Affordable Housing Association, recommend that the historic Europe Hotel Areaway be stabilized as soon as possible to make the sidewalk safe, prevent further damage and to allow for restoration in future. While GHAPC prefers full restoration over Staff's recommendations to stabilize the areaway, there is not sufficient funding available at this time for a full restoration, which would cost well over $500,000, and the owner does not have a tenant who would pay to rent the space, if restored.
.

* * * * *

APPENDIX A
Page 1 of 2

January 25, 1990
When dealing with the reports regarding the removal of areaways and sidewalk reconstruction in the Downtown Eastside, Council resolved:

L. THAT Council direct the City Engineer to initiate a minimum of six blocks of reconstruction local improvements (including street tree planting) in the Downtown Eastside on a block-by-block basis in 1990, the six blocks not to include Alexander and Powell between Carrall and Columbia, or Columbia from Powell to Alexander.

M. THAT Council direct the City Engineer to terminate the areaway encroachment agreements on the remaining ten blocks, and require the owners to remove the areaways in a manner and with City funding assistance as described in the accompanying areaway report, with the exception of the Europe Hotel, which will not be required to remove its areaways if they are adequately refurbished.

September 24, 1991
Council approved street improvements for the block including the Europe Hotel, which entailed the filling in of the areaways and the rebuilding of the sidewalks, the cost to be shared by the City and the owner of the Europe Hotel.

March 10, 1992
Council discussed a report from the Vancouver Heritage Advisory Committee (VHAC) on Europe Hotel areaways and approved the following:

A. THAT Council approve recommendations A, B and C from clause 1 of the report of the VHAC. Those items are:

A. THAT Council request all work on the areaway removal stop immediately and the owner of the Europe Hotel be so advised.

B. THAT the City Engineer make repairs to the sidewalk/areaway roof to protect the areaway from the weather; such repairs to be undertaken in a way that will allow restoration in the future.

C. THAT the Directory of Planning be requested to undertake an inventory of the areaways in heritage districts and catalogue those areaways which were designed and used as an integral part of the building.

APPENDIX A
Page 2 of 2

B. THAT the VHAC's clause 1 recommendations D and E be deferred pending the outcome of discussion contemplated in C below. Those items are:

D. THAT Council request the Minister Responsible for Culture to designate the areaway in the Europe Hotel.

E. THAT, once the above steps have been taken, the owner be requested to remove the structural wall which has been erected.

C. THAT the Director of Planning enter into discussions with the owner of the Europe Hotel and the Provincial Heritage Trust with the objective of finding an economically viable way of restoring the areaways.

APPENDIX B
Page 1 of 1

Restoration Investigation
Staff have investigated numerous restoration and semi-restoration options, the most logical, after Recommendation A, being a roof slab restoration option that could have the following work program:

1. A consultant is hired to design a new roof slab and glass prism system to match as close as possible the original structure.
2. The existing structure is demolished and a new structure is built with a Gastown brick finish and glass prisms.
3. The cut-off wall remains and no improvements are done to the interior of the areaway.

The reason this option is not being recommended is because the cost to provide a new roof slab and paver sidewalk is approximately $500,000 and if the interior of the areaway was to be made accessible the cost could be as high as $160,000 more. Possible funding sources such as Heritage Grants, City tenants (Vancouver Museum) and private businesses have been explored with no success. Also, currently the owner has no desire to pursue this option.

Other options such as shoring or adding a new simple structural slab only provide a short term fix, do not provide a useable space underneath and do not provide a sidewalk surface consistent with the rest of Gastown.

(c) 1998 City of Vancouver