Description of Historic Place
The historic place at 150 Alexander Street is a five-storey brick building located on Alexander Street, near the Port of Vancouver, in Vancouver's historic Gastown. The building is known as 'Mission House.'
Heritage Value
The heritage value of this building, constructed in 1912, is derived from its architecture, its history of use, and the relationship between that use and its location in Gastown.
Designed by the architectural partners Hugh Braunton and John Leibert, this building was one of a series these two men designed in Vancouver during the pre-1912 building boom. Braunton, in particular, played an important role in shaping the architectural form of Gastown. Aspects of the design of this handsome building reflect patterns in their practice, in particular the use of large amounts of glass between emphasized pilasters, and the use of mixtures of brick, stone, wood and sheet metal. Other aspects of the building reflect the emphasis architects, at the behest of housing reformers, placed on providing adequate light, ventilation, and fire escapes.
Located across the street from the former North Vancouver ferry dock, the building was constructed to house the Vancouver Rescue Mission, operated by the B.C. Protective Association. The building was constructed at a critical time in the history of Vancouver. Population growth had transformed the city and the province and both were struggling to establish the legislative and bureaucratic mechanisms to cope with the resulting pressures. An acute economic depression from 1913-1915 exacerbated the situation, especially the problems engendered by massive employment.
The construction of the Mission, and its religious foundation, represented an important aspect of how Vancouverites chose to address poverty and unemployment. The Mission, in turn, worked with civic authorities, reflecting a new level of government involvement in social welfare services. Other similar missions, including the Central City Mission, were also established at roughly the same time . Although no longer used by the Rescue Mission, the structure of this system, with its religious and governmental aspects, remains a familiar model in Vancouver today and continues to play a role in Gastown in particular.
Designed to house 300 men per night, the Mission had a kitchen and dining hall. There were nightly gospel meetings. The charity offered by the mission was aimed at 'neglected men' - the working poor and the 'derelict' unemployed. The men who could afford to, paid for their accommodation, while those who could not paid with tickets issued by the City's welfare department. The men were encouraged to try to find work through the Mission's employment bureau and to help pay for their keep by working in the Mission's scavenging business.
The date when this building ceased to be a mission is not known. By the 1930s, however, it was owned by Vancouver Holdings Limited, associated with a number of leading Vancouver businessmen and political leaders, including H.H. Stevens, who served as Conservative M.P. for various Vancouver ridings between 1911 and 1930.
Heritage value is also found in the adaptive re-use of this building for condominium housing. This re-use dates from 1982, which was relatively early in the recent history of residential conversion in the area.
Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of Mission House include its:
-location on Alexander Street, as part of an urban streetscape
-enduring use of the ground floor for offices and shops and the upper floors for residential purposes
-red brick facade, including pilasters and contrasting stone lintels and sills
-examples of applied cementitious mouldings to pilasters
-window assemblies and arrangements of glazing bars
-internal skylights and overall form of the building (the h-block pattern), characteristic of hotels and lodging houses built at the time
-the arrangement of large windows flanking the entrance door on the ground floor
