What did Fairmont pay for my “protected” view?

I wrote in an earlier series of posts that laws exist as a combination of policy and imperative, operating either to curb antisocial behaviour that can damage the fabric of society or that can alter it.

We have some laws, like building codes, that among other things (like safety), serve to shape the face and feel of a city. I work in a heritage building called the Marine Building. It has a legendary north-facing view from its perch on the northernmost tip of the downtown peninsula of Vancouver.

This building has boasted its view for over three quarters of a century. Now, thanks to reclaimed land and the instant-gratification greed-fuelled condo surge, a luxury tower is shooting towards the sky between the Marine Building and the relatively stout and interesting new Convention Centre.

I don’t ask the title question because of my view.  I ask it because this piece of history – this brick skyscraper that was once a source of pride for Vancouver as the tallest in the then massive British Empire – is being swallowed by the glass and steel amoeba of “progress”.  Progress without history is futurism, and that is a dangerous philosophy upon which to base a society.

I work on the 9th floor of the Marine Building, and have the pleasure of a north-facing window. My view of the mountains and the water is remarkable, and the stuff of history books. Until last week. Rebar and concrete from the Fairmont Pacific Rim condo tower are now directly between my window of the “protected” heritage building in which I work and the North Shore.

The laws have either failed or been bought.