City of Vancouver, why not just demolish the Planetarium, too, and all our other iconic, distinctive buildings while you’re at it? Do we even deserve architecture in this town? See news story here. In short, last night it was decided in a 4-3 vote amidst raucous public opposition that the dome should be closed. This decision should be appealed. The Bloedel Floral Conservatory is a beautiful glass conservatory sitting at the top of Queen Elizabeth Park which is situated in a high, disused quarry with a panoramic view of the city in all directions. (PS Technically, as a nerdy aside, the dome is a triodetic and not a geodesic dome.) The Vancouver Parks Board has already removed the fantastic 60s/70s minimalist wooden pavilions and water features that surrounded the conservatory, and now they actually want to close it permanently, which will no doubt also mean its demolition. It needs a 2 million dolllar roof re-fit, it’s true, but the cost of re-modelling the top of the park will cost much more than that. The city and province are currently awash in shortsightedness and ideological budgetary inanity. They like to claim “expense” and “recession” but they can’t even turn their own stunning assets into worthwhile ventures because they put dusty, creativity-deficient accountants in charge of civic life and aesthetics, and they support the wrong things. This building is a huge asset and any other city would be capitalizing on it. City of Vancouver, take over responsibility for the Conservatory from the Parks Board, which clearly doesn’t have the budget or the vision, and do the right thing – you have an enlightened mayor, finally, so perhaps we can be hopeful. What this city really needs is an advisory group of experienced architects and artists who can actually provide some informed guidance – developers and accountants have run the city long enough. If you care, sign the petition. Photos by nep, keepitsurreal, eldan, worldofjan, arsidubu, and marcinchady.
