Gutted by fire, Vancouver's 115-year-old Winters Hotel will be torn down this week - Action News
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British Columbia

Gutted by fire, Vancouver's 115-year-old Winters Hotel will be torn down this week

No hope of saving any part of the heritage building, city officials say.

No hope of saving any part of the heritage building, city officials say

The Winter's Hotel, located on Abbott Street near Water Street in Gastown, will be quickly demolished following a fire on April 11, according to the City of Vancouver. Officials say none of the heritage building can be saved. (Stephen Quinn/CBC)

Vancouver is tearing down a Gastown heritage buildinggutted by fire last week, displacing nearly 150residents and several businesses.

On Tuesday, the city announced it is immediately starting an estimated three-daydemolitionof the Winters Hotel on Abbott Street, saying the building could not be saved.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Low-income people in the single-resident occupancy (SRO) building are being moved into another SRO nearby. Seventy residents lost their homes, and slightly more had to leavea neighbouring SRO due to noxious smoke.

"We are recommending that businesses and residents near the building close all windows and move items inside before the demolition begins,"said Saul Schwebs, Vancouver'sdirector of buildings policy andinspections, at a press conference Tuesday morning.

A burned-out hotel.
The Gastown Hotel on Water Street, pictured, another SRO run by Atira Property Management, was evacuated due to smoke during the fire. (CBC News)

"This has been a very difficult time," he added, for the seven businesses located on the street level of the buildingand former residents of rooms above.

"One of the reasons we're operating as quickly as we are is to get people rehoused as quickly as we can."

City officials announced their plans Tuesday to demolish the hotel, built in 1907, as displaced residentsbegan moving into a nearby property on Columbia Street also run byAtira Property Management. The fire sent several people to hospital and destroyed businesses and the possessions of low-income residents.

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Jennifer Hansma has been couch surfing with friends sincethe fireand, like many displacedresidents, she said it hasbeen a hard week.

"I lost my cat, I've lost everything," she told CBC News."We've only got $75 so far,what's $75 going to do? ... What about the rest of our lives?"

Meanwhile, the city says streets and sidewalks near the Winters Hotel could open as early as Friday, but vehicles aren'tallowed on Abbott between Cordova and Waterstreets starting Tuesday.

Schwebs said, given the age of the 115-year-old site, "We do have to assume there is asbestos present, although there has been no assessment made of that."

City officials will closely monitor air quality during demolition to ensure the air is safe to breathe, the city said, andVancouver Fire and Rescue Services will be wetting the area and nearby buildings with hoses to keep demolition dust down.

With files from Jon Hernandez and Jessica Cheung