When VAG director Kathleen Bartels made her pitch in late January to an international and local panel assessing whether the City of Vancouver should give the gallery the right to build on the last open block in downtown — a piece of city land — I was there. Sort of. (No, not right in the room, but nearby as presenters came and went, exchanged information, talked about their main questions and points.)

Here’s the case everyone made, along with some telling details about the feedback city staff got.