ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: May 21, 1997Dept. File
No. GMcG
C.C. File No.: 5051-1
TO: Standing Committee on Planning and the Environment
FROM: Director of Land Use & Development
SUBJECT: Heritage Revitalization Agreement - Bowmac Sign
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council acknowledge that the Bowmac sign at 1154 - 1176
West Broadway has sufficient heritage value to justify its
conservation, and
B. THAT Council authorize the City to enter into a Heritage
Revitalization Agreement with the owner of the site at 1154 -
1176 West Broadway to vary the Sign By-law to permit the
continued use and addition of new sign text to the existing
non-conforming Bowmac sign and to secure its rehabilitation
and maintenance for the duration of the Toys R Us tenancy
lease, and
C. THAT the Agreement include a provision permitting the City to
restrict the level of illumination or the times that the sign
is illuminated between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
or both, in order to lessen the impact on the neighbours, and
D. FURTHER THAT the Director of Legal Services be directed to
bring forward the by-law authorizing the Heritage
Revitalization Agreement.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services recommends A, B, C, and
D.
COUNCIL POLICY
There is no applicable Council Policy.
PURPOSE and SUMMARY
The purpose of this report is to seek Council approval to enter into a
Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA) with the owner that varies the
Sign By-law to permit the repair and adaptive re-use of the landmark
Bowmac sign and gives the City the ability to restrict the sign s
illumination at night.
BACKGROUND
Urbanex Development Corporation is constructing a one-storey retail
centre with roof-top parking on the former Bowmac car dealership site at
the south east corner of Broadway and Alder Street. Urbanex approached
Planning staff in Fall 1996 to retain the existing non-conforming Bowmac
sign structure and to replace the text with "Toys 'R' Us". The approach
was similar to that used to transform the sign on the former Canadian
National building, at Main Street and Terminal Avenue, to read "Pacific
Central". Further, the Bowmac proposal also entailed substantially
changing the form of illumination and letter font.
Initially, staff and Urbanex worked collaboratively, but failed to find
a mutually agreeable solution that would retain sufficient character of
this 1950's sign and at the same time, meet the tenant s budget and
corporate logo requirements. A demolition permit was therefore issued.
Subsequent discussions led to a new and innovative design concept. This
new design achieves both parties' objectives and is the basis of the
current Sign Application SI401331, received on April 14, 1997. On May 9,
1997 the Director of Planning approved the application subject to
certain conditions. One condition is that Council approve the requisite
HRA which will authorize the significant Sign By-law variances required
for the re-use of this existing non-conforming sign. If the applicant is
not successful in obtaining a Sign Permit, the Bowmac sign will be
demolished.
DISCUSSION
Heritage Value
The Bowmac sign was constructed in 1958 on Broadway, which was
Vancouver's Auto Row at the time. A number of car dealers, notably the
Dueck and Deely dealerships, had begun erecting a number of increasingly
large signs to attract attention. The Bowmac dealership countered with a
29 m (80-foot) high orange sign illuminated with red neon and hundreds
of flashing light bulbs. The background was repainted to the current red
and blue colours. It was the tallest structure outside of Downtown and
briefly, it was the largest freestanding sign in North America. When
illuminated it could be seen as far as 18 miles away. Apparently, Jimmy
Patterson was pleased with his first sign which prompted him to purchase
the company that built it, Neon Products.
Some of the sign s notable features include: its colossal size; its
extravagant use of 1950's technology (i.e., over 1,200 incandescent
light bulbs and extensive neon lighting); the characteristic 1950's
letter font; and the Las Vegas style marquee base with kinetic lighting.
The Bowmac sign is an icon of the era when Vancouver, because of its
significant number of artistic neon signs, was referred to as the "neon
capital of North America". The Bowmac sign is distinct from the other
neon signs. It is a city landmark because of its size and its position
on the West Broadway route.
Council has no policy on the conservation of historic signs. Some
precedents include: Council approving the adaptive re-use of the former
"Canadian National" neon sign; and the preservation of the "Dunns" neon
sign in its new location at Granville and Pender Street. Staff are
currently working with some Council members to restore the "Ho Ho" sign
in Chinatown.
Staff put forth RECOMMENDATION A to formally acknowledge that the Bowmac
sign has sufficient heritage value to warrant its conservation, and
therefore, enable it to be the subject of a HRA.
Sign Application Proposal
Sign Application SI401331, proposing the adaptive re-use of the Bowmac
sign, achieves the following objectives set out by staff and the
applicant:
1) retain the integrity of the original sign and its 1950's
technological character;
2) limit the level of illumination to not negatively impact
neighbouring residents;
3) incorporate Toys 'R' Us corporate logo as the incentive to
retain and refurbish the historic sign; and
4) adhere to an established budget.
The proposal involves retention and repair of the existing free-standing
sign, addition of a new layer of text in front of and partially covering
a portion of the Bowmac sign and reconstruction of the marquee (see
drawings Appendix A).
The new proposal preserves the old sign as an artifact. The sheet metal
cladding of the vertical sign would be repaired and repainted to the
colours existing today. The letters spelling out "BOW MAC" will be
preserved, but not self-illuminated. The letters will be partially
covered by a highly perforated 3/4 inch metal screen which will, in turn
bear the Toys 'R' Us logo. The individual Toys 'R' Us letters would be
in the corporate primary colours and be internally self-illuminated.
Night lighting for the Bowmac letters would be provided by an even wash
of front lighting.
The marquee beneath the vertical portion of the sign will be recreated,
although it would be attached to the low-rise building that is currently
under construction. The neon tubing at the front of the marquee would be
replaced by fibre optic tubes which will be capable of reproducing much
of the original kinetic lighting effect, but with more colours.
Heritage Revitalization Agreement
Legal Services has advised that the Sign By-law provisions relevant to
the proposed utilization of the Bowmac sign are in substance a "zoning
by-law" and as such can be varied by an HRA. The requisite HRA would
have two main elements:
to authorize significant variances to the Sign By-law to permit the
adaptive re-use of the existing non-conforming Bowmac sign: 215%
increase to the maximum permitted height; 1823% increase to the
maximum permitted sign area; permit encroachment over the property
line; increase the maximum permitted distance from building,
encroachment, angle of sign in relation to property line and height
above building roof; and permit sign lighting which changes colour
in this location (see Appendix B for detailed table of variances);
and
to secure the repair, protection and on-going maintenance of the
Bowmac sign for the duration of the Toys 'R' Us lease.
Toys 'R' Us has a 20 year lease of the premises, with two consecutive
renewal options of five years. Upon termination of the lease, a new HRA
will have to negotiated or the sign will be demolished.
Compatibility of Conservation with Community Planning Objectives
Surrounding neighbours were notified as part of the Sign Application
review. Of the 287 notified, 19 responded: 2 in support and 17 against.
The principle objections expressed were:
Toys 'R' Us should conform to the Sign By-law as do other
businesses;
the sign will set a precedent for signs on Broadway;
the sign is an earthquake hazard;
the sign does not merit heritage status;
if the sign is changed it will no longer merit its heritage status;
and
light and noise from sign will greatly impact adjoining residential
buildings.
By virtue of the existing sign, the proposal cannot conform to the Sign
By-law which was enacted after the sign was constructed. The scale of
the existing also established the scale of the new signage. This
proposal will not set a precedent for signs on Broadway because the Sign
By-law cannot be varied for other non-heritage properties. To ensure the
sign is not an earthquake hazard, the applicant has engaged a Structural
Engineer to undertake a structural assessment of the sign with its new
loading.
Staff understand that this is an unusual example of heritage
preservation. However, recently there has been substantial public
interest in preserving the Bowmac sign and preserving in general
remaining examples of Vancouver's historic neon signs. Staff believe
that the proposal will retain sufficient heritage character. Staff
supported this concept while rejecting past versions because it
conserves the original sign as is. The new metal screen, introduced to
separate the new layer of signage from the old, will be highly
perforated to ensure the Bowmac backdrop is clearly viable. The
opportunity to add the new user s logo is the incentive required to
return the sign and pay for its revitalization. Staff believe this
approach conserves the original artifact and brings new use and life to
this commercial art landmark.
To mitigate lighting impacts, staff put forth RECOMMENDATION C to
include a provision in the HRA giving the City the ability to limit the
hours and level of illumination, should the new signage adversely impact
neighbouring property owners or tenants.
Vancouver Heritage Commission Comments
The Commission reviewed the Sign Application SI401331 on May 5, 1997 and
passed a resolution on May 9, 1997 commending Toys 'R' Us for continuing
to retain the Bowmac sign. It supported its application for relaxations
to the Sign By-law. The Commission also made recommendations for
refining the proposed design, all of which have been incorporated in
staff's conditions of approval.
CONCLUSION
The adaptive re-use of the Bowmac sign by Toys 'R' Us will revitalize
this City landmark that is an important artifact from the era when
Vancouver was the "neon capital of North America". RECOMMENDATIONS A, B
and D acknowledge the sign's importance as a heritage resource and will
ensure its rehabilitation and on-going maintenance for the duration of
the Toys 'R' Us lease. RECOMMENDATION C will ensure any unforeseen
lighting impacts on neighbours are mitigated.
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