Balmoral Hotel neon sign features elegant design and clock
City of Vancouver scraps iconic Balmoral Hotel neon sign decided to
This elaborate sign has been a fixture at his 159 Hastings East since the 1930s and was one of his last survivors of Vancouver's neon golden age.
However, the Balmoral Hotel fell into disrepair and was closed by the city in 2017. The building is now owned by the city and has decided to demolish it.
The four-story tall sign had been weathered by the elements over the years. The city sent it to Knight Signs in Delta on June 26, which he removed in three sections.
"Several assessments were conducted to determine the condition of the signs before and after removal," the city statement said. "These assessments confirmed the impossibility of recovering or restoring the signs."
Neon expert John Atkin strongly disagrees.
"That's perfect and complete BS," he said Atkin.
"There was a sign standing. Yeah, there were probably a lot of problems with the sign, but as I said when I first bought the Balmoral, if you really want to save the sign, it's
``Because nothing is in such bad shape. But nothing, nothing, can't be saved."
Atkin has several projects that have successfully restored or reproduced old neon signs. I have been working on Recently, he worked with Knight Signs to create a replica of his Barclay Grocery neon sign in the West End.
"The signs were badly rusted and corroded," he said.
"However, it was demolished, so sign makers used the existing sign as a pattern to recreate a new sign that was identical to the original. Some of the glass was reused.
}“If you have the intention to keep it, restore it, rebuild it, you can do it. If it's about saying (something) to justify it, then that's what you're doing too.It's basically BS."
Vancouver City Councilman Pete Fry put up a poster with the Balmoral sign in his kitchen. is up. He was astounded at the decision to abandon such a unique piece of Vancouver's cultural history. (Not Citi) can let it go to retrieve/restore," he said in an email. "Is there anyone interested in that?"
Yes. David Ferguson of Low Tide Properties made an inquiry about purchasing a sign from the city.
"We wanted to potentially buy it and then restore it," he said. "Nobody has heard from me."
Ferguson said Low Tide would remain interested in the sign if the city wanted to sell it rather than throw it away. Stated.
"Vancouver or Lower He's interested in cool neon signs in the Mainland," he said.
Given the recent history of Balmoral, one of Vancouver's most controversial SROs, the city may not want to see the autograph in private hands. I can't.
"Before closure, Balmoral was a place of harm and trauma to many former residents and their families, friends and communities," a city statement said.
"The sign is a symbol of the building and the city is sensitive to inflicting further trauma on former residents and their families, friends and communities."
It is also emblematic of an imaginative era in Vancouver commercial signage.
"It starts at the top, turns away from the building with a little curve, then enters the building and winds up for 24 hours (bottom)," Atkin said.
"Really nice graphic design. It was designed in the early 1930s and is perfect for the Art Deco era with such curvilinear motifs."
jmackie@postmedia.com
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