Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

Director of Current Planning

SUBJECT:

690 Burrard Street - Christ Church Cathedral
Interior Designation and Heritage Revitalization Agreement

 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

The Heritage Policies and Guidelines outline a procedure to be followed in applying the Heritage Density Bonus provisions as permitted in the Downtown Official Development Plan. Category "A" buildings on the Vancouver Heritage Register are automatically eligible for consideration of a density bonus for heritage preservation.

The Transfer of Density Policy and Procedure allows for the transfer of density from Heritage sites to sites within the Central Area , West-End and Broadway corridor.

An Issues Report was brought forward to Council at the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment on March 28, 2002. Council endorsed the density bonus, in principle, along with a Heritage Revitalization Agreement and designation of the interior features.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to seek Council approval of a Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA) that would authorize a transferable density bonus and secure the conservation and protection of the interiors of the "A" category Municipally-designated Christ Church Cathedral at 690 Burrard Street.

BACKGROUND

Christ Church Cathedral at 690 Burrard Street is located on Burrard Street between Georgia and Dunsmuir Streets as shown on the map in Appendix A. It is located in the central business area of the Downtown District (DD) Official Development Plan. The owners of the building have applied under Development Application Number DE 405416 to rehabilitate the interiors of the building including conservation of several key heritage features along with seismic up-grading. To off-set the costs associated with conservation of the heritage features, and as compensation for the interior designation, the owner has requested a heritage density bonus that may be sold and transferred off-site. Appendix B contains selected drawings from the development permit application.

In the case of buildings that are already protected through designation, a "new offering" that contributes to the conservation of the resource , in addition to the existing obligations on the site, are the basis by which further compensation is considered. In this case, that "new offering" is determined to be seismic upgrading and interior designation.

On March 28, 2002, City Council endorsed the project's eligibility for a heritage bonus density in the amount of 6,782 m2 ( 73,170 sq.ft.). The bonus will be transferred off-site to locations permitted within the Transfer of Density Policy Area. The amount of density bonus was reported to City Council in connection with the status of the Density Bank. The proposed 73,170 sq.ft. for Christ Church Cathedral will bring the Bank up to approximately 390,000 sq.ft. Staff will be reporting back on a comprehensive analysis of the Density Bank and how the latter should be managed to protect the stability of the banked density market. The disbursement of the bonus to Christ Church will be phased to reflect the 5-7 year project time line. The first phase of the project will involve the work to the Narthex area and will release approximately 33,000 sq. ft. of transferrable density for sale on the market.

Interiors

In 1996, Council authorized a study of significant interiors within the City of Vancouver. A list of 138 addresses was compiled with Christ Church Cathedral noted as having significant heritage value. The intention of the study was to identify heritage interiors so that they could be considered with conservation work proposed for a building. To date, Council has designated and provided bonus density for four interior spaces, most notably the Hotel Georgia. Interior projects are evaluated on their merits in light of the relaxations requested by the owner and the heritage value of the interior spaces.

Christ Church Cathedral 1975 Transfer of Density and Designation

In 1974/75, the City of Vancouver brokered an agreement between the owners of Christ Church Cathedral and the adjacent property, now known as Park Place. The residual unused density on the church lands was permitted to be transferred to Park Place in exchange for protective measures applied to the Cathedral and for remuneration. A payment schedule was established over a 102 year period and has resulted to-date, in payments of approximately $4,500,000 to the owners of the Cathedral. This was the first project in the City of Vancouver to use transferrable density to achieve heritage conservation goals. As a consequence , the City has adopted the Transfer of Density Policy and Procedure and many of the city's key heritage resources have been protected through this incentive.

The obligation on the Church site in exchange for financial remuneration was to "preserve and maintain" the Church building. Legal Services Department has advised staff that the term "preserve and maintain" within the context of the 1974/75 agreements does not explicitly obligate the Church to protect the physical fabric of the building in a manner consistent with seismic upgrading, or preserve intact the interiors of the church. Christ Church Cathedral has, however, kept the building in good order and used the funds toward its ministry in a variety of areas including ongoing building maintenance and repair.

DISCUSSION

Heritage Value

Christ Church Cathedral is listed as an "A" building on the Vancouver Heritage Register and considered a primary resource for the City of Vancouver. It is the oldest surviving church in Vancouver and was built in 1895 as a small parish church. Over the years, additions have been made to enlarge the building to the Cathedral we see today. The representative style is predominantly Gothic Revival with Romanesque and Tudor details. The church is layed out in a classic Latin Cross plan. The exterior materials are granite and sandstone with notable heritage features which include the exterior wood doors and hardware and many memorial stained glass windows, three of which were designed by William Morris & Company. British Columbia fir and cedar were used throughout the interiors resulting in many notable features, including an impressive exposed wood Hammerbeam Truss system with wood arches and tracery details separating the side aisles from the Nave. The interior is circumnavigated by wood wainscotting with a Quatrefoil cornice. There is some evidence of a hand painted stencil pattern on the wainscotting on the main floor and at the upper balcony level. The original fir flooring has been covered by linoleum and the original wood ceiling has been covered by acoustic panels. A balcony was added in 1905, covering the narthex area and contains a wood railing in a gothic pattern. The original wood pews and arrangement remain; however, additional seating has been provided in the form of chairs. The Chancel area was enlarged in 1940 using oak detailing throughout. Features of heritage interest in the Chancel include the Archdeacons stalls, Choir stalls, Communion railing, Reredos, Sedilia and Cathedra. Bronze lanterns were placed in the Nave in 1937 and replicated for the Chancel in the 1990's. The interior of Christ Church Cathedral is a significant heritage resource within the City of Vancouver and noted as such within the Heritage Interiors study conducted in 1996.

Heritage Revitalization Agreement and Proposal

The proposed changes to Christ Church will restore interior heritage elements and seismically upgrade the building. In addition, a new elevator and mechanical area will be constructed on the north of the building facing the lane. This addition will form the base for a church spire to be constructed at a later date. The scope of the interior changes can be divided into two groups: restoration to original building fabric and new interventions. The restoration includes restoring and revealing the existing wood ceiling and floor, replicating the original wall stencil pattern, restoring the Hammerbeam Truss system along with all of the wood detailing. These items have been factored in the bonus density negotiations. The seating arrangement will be re-configured to allow the altar to be moved to the center of the Nave with seating around. Two-thirds of the wood pews will be retained in the Nave and realigned to the new altar location, with the remaining one-third housed within other areas of the building. New interventions to the space include an organ/choir loft, new vestibules and Narthex finishes, new transepts and the elevator/mechanical addition off the lane. Theseitems have not been factored into the bonus density, except to the extent that they are integral to the seismic upgrading.

Seismic and other code upgrading of the church to meet City requirements will improve life safety and will also help protect it from seismic forces. The proposed upgrading is a delicate balance between introducing structural elements without adversely affecting the historically significant elements of the interiors. The proposed choir and organ loft and an elevator core will house the primary seismic structural components. The remaining seismic work will be hidden in the form of a new diaphragm below the original wood floor and new structural steel braces applied to the Hammerbeam Truss system.

The HRA, as recommended in this report, would achieve the following:
· establish a heritage density bonus of 6,782 m2 ( 73,170 sq.ft. ) for transfer to sites within the Transfer of Density Policy Area. The bonus density will be released over a 5-7 year period to correspond to completed restoration to the Narthex, Nave and Chancel areas.

· Secure the rehabilitation and continued maintenance of the interiors of the building particularly the elements listed below:

· That the building remains open and accessible to the general public.

· That the proposed volume within the Church from the back of the Chancel North wall to the south wall of the Narthex remain as described within Development Permit # 405416. No construction of any element that could define a different volume will be permitted.

· That the arrangement of the original wood pews remaining within the Nave be as shown in Development Permit # 405416, noting that the Altar is permitted to be aflexible/movable element within the Nave and the Director of Planning on advice from the Vancouver Heritage Commission may permit "fixed" alternate seating arrangements as requested by the owners.

Real Estate Services

The amount of density bonus has been calculated based on a review of the proforma estimates of the hard and soft costs associated with the rehabilitation and conservation of the heritage interiors and the heritage premium costs to seismically up-grade the building. After careful analysis by Real Estate Services staff and the City's Quantity Surveyor, the Director of Real Estate Services reached an agreement with the owners as to the amount of density bonus needed as compensation for the heritage costs of the project.

The owner is prepared to enter into the HRA and has agreed that the density bonus is adequate compensation for the municipal designation of the buildings interiors and the obligations under the HRA. The project is expected to proceed over the next 5-7 years pending funding opportunities. The bonus density for transfer will be released for sale as the work is completed. Staff expect this to occur in three phases. The first phase will be the work on the Narthex with an accompanying bonus of approximately 34,000 sq.ft. This amount includes soft costs. The second phase will be the Nave with an approximate bonus of 23,000 sq.ft. and the balance of the density for sale 16,170 sq.ft. will be released when the Chancel and elevator area are complete.

Vancouver Heritage Commission

The Vancouver Heritage Commission reviewed this proposal over a two-year period and created a Sub-Committee for Christ Church Cathedral. The Sub-Committee members attended six design workshops in Year 2001 that assisted staff and the Church design team with improvements to the proposal. The final review occurred on three meetings starting with March 4 and March 11, 2002 and resulted in the following supported motions:

On April 8, 2002, the Heritage Commission met for the last time to review Christ Church Cathedral and resulted in the following unanimously supported resolutions:


The Commission's advice will be incorporated into the requirements for the Development Permit.

Heritage Vancouver

At its request, staff included Heritage Vancouver members in a workshop on April 2, 2002 to discuss details for stair and balcony railings and the finish materials for the Narthex. Suggestions from that meeting were incorporated into a revised scheme and presented to the Heritage Commission on April 8, 2002. As the motions above show, unanimous support was given for the changes. Heritage Vancouver members, who attended the workshop on April 2, 2002, were invited to attend the Commission meeting and comment at their discretion. Staff have received no further concerns from Heritage Vancouver.

Notification

In accordance with the Vancouver Charter Public Hearing provisions, a newspaper ad has been placed in two consecutive issues of a local newspaper.

Notification of the Development Permit was sent to 381 surrounding property owners. Staff received 10 responses. 7 opposed and 3 in support. In summary, the supporters believe that upgrading to the interior of the building is consistent with the need for the building to remain a safe, secure and viable part of the downtown community and support the transfer of density proposal. Those opposed to the application largely disagree with any interventions which remove what they see as valuable historic and ecumenical aspects of the building- such as the pews, the pulpit, the high altar, the 1905 balcony etc. Several writers do not support the adaptation of the building for secular use and the density bonus. None of those who wrote in opposition live within the notification area.

City staff were told that the Christ Church Design team also conducted a number of meetings with their congregation to present the proposed changes and to receive comments. Staff were told that over a two year period, more than 8 meetings were held that presented the proposal to the parish. Two Vestry meetings took place where the proposals were voted on. In each meeting, over 100 parishioners voted to support the proposal with opposition from 5 to 7 people in both instances.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed interior designation and restoration, as well as the seismic up-grading, will insure the long term protection of one of the City's most valued heritage interior spaces. In addition, the bonus density proposed will compensate the owners for the costs associated with designation in a manner consistent with past City practices.

Link to Appendices A and B

* * * * *

ph020514.htm

Comments or questions? You can send us email.
[City Homepage] [Get In Touch]

(c) 1998 City of Vancouver