To the editor:
Re: "Developing Story: VanDu-sen building tops Heritage Vancouver's endangered list," May 8
Missing from the whole discussion of the future of the Vancouver Mail Processing Plant (VMPP) on West Georgia is the voice of anyone who actually worked there and might just have some thoughts on the subject. That would include me and many others I know. I worked for Canada Post for 35 years, many of them in and around this building. I wonder how many of those who are so concerned about the future use of this space have any knowledge of it beyond its facade and the main retail lobby.
I'm not sure whether Don Lux-ton has ever had a detailed tour of the place. Have you? While the exterior and public spaces may have mid-century charm and merit, the mass of the building is just another industrial (or should I say post-industrial) space. Never originally air conditioned, it was retrofitted in the 1980s, along with the installation of computer-driven letter sortation machines. Similarly, the fire suppression sprinkler system was an afterthought to the original design. A number of waves of remediation have taken place to deal with PCBs and asbestos.
The roof top helipad has, to my knowledge, been used a total of four times in 55 years: twice ceremonially when the building opened, once during a strike in the 1980s and once for a movie shoot in the 1990s.It is so solidly built that demolition costs will probably be huge, and any retrofit costs much higher. The illustration used by Heritage Vancouver (and the Courier) shows the never realized 15-storey office block, rather than the existing seven storeys, as built.
By the way, the design was also shared by the former main postal buildings in Winnipeg (one storey less) and Montreal (somewhat larger).
All three came from government plan books, modified to suit local circumstances. Indeed, form does follow function.
I can see the argument for retaining the front one-quarter of the building but nothing beyond that.
Demo the rest and get a much better use of the site.
John Buckberrough, Vancouver
