Latest Classifieds in Westbank Redevelopment

Grasping at straws, eh? Author of this poster and details of its dissemination unknown.

Dorothy Woodend’s article for The Tyee compares Westbank’s Fight for Beauty to the Vancouver Art Gallery’s offsite installation, Salvage. Great line: “I would hesitate to call Fight for Beauty an art exhibit. Other words come much more easily to mind — PR campaign, propaganda, marketing bonanza — all combined with plain old garden-variety ego and hubris.”

This listing, written by Vancouver curator and writer Steffanie Ling, was published to Akimbo on November 8, 2017. It gives a brief review of the Fight for Beauty exhibition, including the apt line: “The broad consensus in the art community is that this is a nighmarish marketing scheme and public sympathy generator masquerading as a philanthropic project.” True. 

Peter Mitham wrote this article for the Real Estate section of Business In Vancouver, in which he mentions Westbank’s Joyce-Collingwood development that had recently been a point of controversy. There was community pushback to the Joyce-Collingwood development because it was so unaffordable in a neighbourhood that is home to many low-income families and marginalized communities.

This article, posted to CBC News, was an oddly timed fluff piece praising the redevelopment of Woodward’s — oddly timed, because it coincided with Westbank’s Fight For Beauty exhibition, which also argued that the Woodward’s redevelopment had a positive revitalizing effect on the neighbourhood, which W.W.A.S. research demonstrates is not true.

This article for CBC News was one of the first to openly criticize Westbank’s Fight for Beauty exhibition for being ignorant of the neighbourhood and cultural impacts of large scale luxury developments. With regards to Fight For Beauty, Michael Braun, Westbank’s marketing and sales director, is quoted saying, “It’s philanthropy, in a way.”

These are excerpts of an interview with Westbank marketing and sales director, Michael Braun, posted to Westbank’s website and accessed in 2017. What intrigued us about this interview is the insight that Braun gives into Ian Gillespie’s character. His love for Gillespie is quite heartwarming.

The excerpts above represent the pages of the CCAP 2012 Hotel Survey & Housing Report related to the neighbourhood impact of the Woodward’s Redevelopment.

Christine McLaren interviews architect Gregory Henriquez for The Tyee. Some of his statements, such as “We displaced nobody,” demonstrate a certain saviour complex and ignorance with regards to the Woodward’s redevelopment and its lasting impact. Though it is not mentioned in this article, Henriquez’ ego appears to rival the height of the Woodward’s condo. 

This plan for the neighbourhood around Victory Square was put forward by the Development Services branch of the City of Vancouver, and adopted by council on July 19, 2005. In it, there are valuable insights into how City officials regarded the neighbourhood around Victory Square. This plan acknowledges its decline and the need to bring businesses back to the neighbourhood, but it also passes judgement on existing businesses for supporting illegal drug activity. This document is at times thought-provoking and compassionate and other times misguided and ignorant.