This 1909 building was developed by John A Campbell. We're not totally confident that we have the right John Campbell - there were quite a few of them. We saw another of John A Cambell's investments on East Georgia Street, that one with his partner in their sheet metal works, Albert Grill (who left the partnership in 1920, although the firm continued to have his name). That building also featured bay windows, but being mid block didn't have the opportunity to add the turreted corner, or the witches hat spire that has now been lost. The name "B.C. Block" appear on the upper storey. It was designed and built by the Vancouver Construction Co., Ltd. at a cost of $10,000.
Mr. Campbell paid for $1,500 of alterations to the property in 1926, and 'Ira' Campbell (we suspect an error) another $2,500 in 1929 for work designed by E Evans & Son. That year John A Campbell was still a partner in Campbell & Grill.
John Archibald Campbell died in 1932, after a short illness. He had been giving talks, and elected to . His funeral was huge - twenty-six Scottish societies were represented, and the honary pallbearers included a general, and the chief justice. He was born in North Uist on the Hebrides in 1880, and came to Canada in 1903, establishing the company in 1905. He was a 32nd degree Mason, a member of the AOOF, a Shriner, the Vancouver Club and a life governor of VGH. He was married, but had no children, and we can't work out who his wife was, as she invariably appeared (on a regular basis in the news, carrying out good works), as 'Mrs J A Campbell'.
The building was initially the real estate offices of Williams and Murdoff, and then through the First World War a photographer, A.J. Selset, a post office in the 1920s and 30s, the YWCA Club from 1938 to 1948, an auction hall and in the mid 1950s a Sears store. At the same time, from 1910 to 1925 the building had a branch of the Royal Bank (at 1050).It became a tire store, Ace Novelties (as it was in this 1978 image), and then for 30 years, Tony's Deli. Today it's home to The Lunch Lady founded in Saigon in 1995 by Mrs Nguyen Thi Thanh, serving Vietnamese street food.
Upstairs the residents of the Napier Apartments mostly went about their lives without incident. Dr James Sutherland managed to collide with another car driven by J O Duclos in 1916, sustaining 'slight damage' (to the car). A J Cardio was in trouble in 1942 for charging a higher rent than the wartime regulations permitted, but the fine of $5 suggested a token reprimand. In 1952 Reginald Messinger faced a $100 fine for 'delivery of articles designed for use in a scheme for disposing of property by means of chance'. Police found a punchboard which had the Napier address scrawled on it, and once at Mr Messenger's apartment found 27 other boards. Mr Messenger was again in the news three years later. He picked up a fare in his Blue Cab, who insisted on getrting out mid-span across Granville Bridge. Mr Messenger watched him try to climb onto the bridge, and hauled him back. Attempting suicide was illegal, so the police arrested the unidentified 28-year-old.
Image source City of Vancouver Archives CVA 786-78.20
1343
No comments:
Post a Comment