Unique Vancouver

Here's a selection of quirky angles on the city that would appeal to readers looking beyond the usual activities and attractions.

Vancouver Neon
In the 1950s, Vancouver was home to the largest neon company in the world and second only to Shanghai in neon per capita; 18,000 neon signs, or one for every 19 residents. At the time it was considered by pilots to be the best-illuminated city in North America. The largest beacon was the BowMac sign on Broadway. While only a few of the original signs remain, neon is making a comeback in downtown's Granville Street entertainment district, where new businesses are being encouraged to add bold exterior lighting that echoes the city area's neon-lit past. Among the old signs still visible on the city's streets are the Ovaltine Cafe (251 East Hastings Street); Save On Meats (43 West Hastings Street); Only Seafood Restaurant (20 East Hastings Street); and the 2400 Court Motel (2400 Kingsway, Burnaby).

Vancouver's Secret Tunnels
Stories abound about the city's alleged plethora of secret underground tunnels. Chinatown is supposed to be criss-crossed with them - road crews sometimes unearth them when they're working in the area. And there's definitely a tunnel running from the main Canada Post building on West Georgia Street. The disused route - it runs under Homer Street and along Cordova Street towards the waterfront - was once used by Canada Post for a Halloween party.

Story Idea
Consider a story on Vancouver's neon heritage - as well as the recent attempts to re-introduce neon signage to Granville Street. You could talk with historians about the signs that used to colour the city, visit as many remaining examples as you can find and discuss the new drive to bring neon back to the city.

"OH, CANADA!"
For more than 25 years at noon each day, a set of horns atop a downtown Vancouver building played the first four notes of Canada's national anthem, O Canada. The 10 aluminium horns were so powerful they can be heard over much of the city, and those nearby had to plug their ears. When the building converted to a condominium in the mid-90s, the horns were moved to the top of the luxury Pan Pacific Vancouver Hotel at Canada Place. Want to hear them? Listen out at midday and you won't be disappointed.

Bryan Adams
You could easily wander by the massive brick edifice at the corner of Powell and Columbia Streets without noticing it, but the building enjoys two relatively impressive claims to fame. It is the oldest brick building in the city and the only one that regularly plays host to the world's rock and roll elite. Built in 1886 as a wholesale grocery, the building almost immediately became Vancouver's first city hall when the great fire of Gastown wiped out the neighbourhood. In the following decades, it survived a few more blazes, becoming increasingly battered and eventually abandoned. Its luck changed in 1991 when singer Bryan Adams bought the place for $1 million, later building an open-air putting green, parking lot and recording studio.

Floating Service Station
Coal Harbour's Chevron outlet is the city's only self-service floating gas station. Selling its fuel sans road tax, it offers some of the best deals on gas and diesel in the city - too bad you need a boat to get to it. When the barges were first towed to their spots just off Deadman's Island in the early 1940s, there were originally five. Now only Chevron remains. In this city of fair-weather sailors, most of the station's winter business comes from tugs and trawlers and even the floatplanes that land nearby fuel elsewhere.

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