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Entries from January 2016

News of Waldorf Hotel closure sparks a small neutron bomb of outrage, anger, sadness, uncertainty

January 9th, 2013 · 49 Comments

There are still lots of twists and turns in this story of the current operators of the Waldorf Hotel announcing they are no longer in business as of Jan. 20. I captured a small part of it in the Globe final story today. But there’s much more and more to come. While the meme has […]

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Mayor Robertson: “City is exploring ways to support the Waldorf continuing as one of Vancouver’s most unique and vibrant cultural spaces

January 9th, 2013 · 11 Comments

Statement from Mayor Gregor Robertson: The Waldorf closing is a big loss to Vancouver’s growing creative community. They built a great culture hub, and it’s my hope that they’ll be able to re-launch and return in some form in the near future. Supporting Vancouver’s dynamic arts and culture sector is a top priority of our […]

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Waldorf Hotel to shut its doors Jan. 20 after landlord says 15-year lease is broken and sells to Solterra condo developer

January 9th, 2013 · 15 Comments

This was sent out by the hotel’s young developers, who made it into a real cultural hub the last two years. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 9, 2013, Vancouver, British Columbia: East Vancouver’s cultural institution the Waldorf Hotel has been sold to real estate development company forcing imminent closure. The Waldorf Hotel re-opened its doors on October […]

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Vancouver city manager Penny Ballem proves once again she is indestructible

January 7th, 2013 · 37 Comments

The gossip phone tree informed me recently that Vancouver city manager Penny Ballem had a serious ski accident over Christmas. I checked, wondering if this might mean she was sidelined for a while. But no. Dr. Ballem, as she has shown in the past, has proven to be unsquelchable. In the time I’ve writing about […]

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Job changes: Former Sam Sullivan chief of staff moves on from MITACS, Van Economic Commission CEO moves to Alberta

January 7th, 2013 · 9 Comments

Comings and goings all the time among current and former city people. The latest: Former Sullivan chief of staff Daniel Fontaine, who was working at the innovation-boosting organization MITACS until recently, has moved on to become CEO of the B.C. Care Providers Association. Not sure if David Hurford, also formerly with Sam Sullivan as communications […]

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Vancouver continues to “solve” its affordability problem by going littler and littler

January 4th, 2013 · 67 Comments

The little house, the little apartment — they’re all I’m hearing about these days. Laneway houses continue to be popular. At last count, there were 600 that had been processed at city hall. Micro-suites have come to Surrey. Coquitlam is letting people build multiple-units on single-family lots. Some of this is welcomed, I think. We’ve […]

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Welcome to 2013 at State of Vancouver: a year of peace, love, the end of the bike-car war, the end of the mindless anti-developer rhetoric, the end of treating all city residents like trolls

January 3rd, 2013 · 23 Comments

Okay, I’m back. Every piece of shortbread in our house got eaten, the pine needles have mostly been vacuumed up, the presents all exchanged. It’s time to get back to work. (Burp. Yawn.) I’ve still got too much Christmas brain to come up with some brilliant list of Trends I Foresee for 2013, but here’s […]

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Vancouver Archives works overtime to bring the past back to the future

January 2nd, 2013 · 10 Comments

For those who don’t know, the Globe does a wonderful thing every Christmas running stories about “things that work” in the city. That allows all of us reporters to rave on about things that we love in the city. (Rod Mickleburgh did the library, Mark Hume did Kits Pool.) I love the archives. (As a […]

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