Other Name(s)
First Rogers Block
Rogers Block
301-307 West Hastings Street
Links and documents
n/a
Construction Date(s)
1894/01/01
Listed on the Canadian Register:
2007/08/17
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The First Rogers Block is a three-storey plus lower level red brick building with stone trim, located on a moderate slope on the north side of West Hastings Street directly south of historic Victory Square Park, the site of Vancouver's first courthouse. The First Rogers Block was built for retail purposes with large display windows on the ground floor and offices above. To the east, the monumental Dominion Building now dwarfs the First Rogers Block.
Heritage Value
This building is significant for its direct association with Jonathan Rogers (1865-1945), a prominent Vancouver developer, contractor and financier. This was one of the first major projects undertaken by Rogers and named after himself. He had arrived on the first passenger train to Vancouver in 1887, and attended the first sale of Canadian Pacific Railway lots.
Despite initial speculative interest in Vancouver, there was a drastic economic slump in the mid-1890s, and many local merchants talked of leaving the struggling young city. At a public meeting in 1894, Rogers declared that the poor conditions were world-wide, and expressed his faith in the future of Vancouver. He announced his intentions to stay and invest in its future by starting construction on this masonry building on Hastings Street. It was said that his courageous show of faith at this meeting marked the turning point for many who decided to stay. Rogers's optimism was justified just a few years later when prospectors poured into the city to outfit themselves for the trip north to the Klondike gold rush, allowing him to build the second half of this building in 1898 and several other projects in the area. He rode the crest of the great western boom, culminating in his construction of the landmark Rogers Block on Granville Street, 1911-13. Highly respected in the community, Rogers was chair of the Vancouver Parks Board for nine years, an early promoter of comprehensive town planning and one of the founders of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
The First Rogers Bock is an important component of the early retail and commercial fabric that made West Hastings Streets one of the most prominent commercial streets in the early history of Vancouver. Rogers chose a site near the Vancouver Courthouse, which was then being expanded with a large new addition facing Hastings Street. The promotion of land sales in this district as an alternative to the original Granville Townsite provided additional stimulation to the commercial development of this area.
Furthermore, the heritage value of the First Rogers Block lies in its picturesque Late Victorian commercial architecture that was an exuberant expression of Vancouver’s commercial vitality and confidence. The design of the 1894 section, with its distinctive mixture of red brick with inset patterned courses and alternating bands of rough-dressed sandstone trim, can be attributed to architect William Blackmore (1842-1904), who established his office in the building when completed. Regular fenestration and generous glazing was achieved by the use of cast-iron mullions. When he commissioned the expansion of the structure, Rogers hired architects John E. Parr (1856-1923) and Thomas A. Fee (1860-1929), recently established in Vancouver. Their successful partnership that would have a profound effect on the look of Edwardian Vancouver. Despite the change in architects, the addition was seamlessly blended with the original construction, although a close inspection reveals that the two halves of the structure are not the same width, slightly altering the window proportions.
Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the First Rogers Block include its:
- siting in an area of historic commercial buildings on Hastings Street
- contribution to the streetscape as part of an unbroken streetwall with continuous retail storefronts
- commercial form, scale and massing, as expressed by its three-storey plus basement height, rectangular plan and cubic massing
- flat roof with raised front parapet
- masonry construction, including the rubble-stone foundation, red brick front facade, rough-dressed sandstone coursing and sills, dogtooth-patterned brick spandrels, corbelled cornice, common red brick side and rear walls, and four original corbelled chimneys on the side walls
- exterior features such, as the front sheet metal cornice and cast iron decorative mullions between the windows on the top two storeys of the front facade
- regular fenestration
Recognition
Jurisdiction
British Columbia
Recognition Authority
City of Vancouver
Recognition Statute
Vancouver Charter, s.582
Recognition Type
Community Heritage Register
Recognition Date
1986/09/23
Historical Information
Significant Date(s)
n/a
Theme - Category and Type
- Developing Economies
- Trade and Commerce
Function - Category and Type
Current
- Commerce / Commercial Services
- Eating or Drinking Establishment
- Commerce / Commercial Services
- Shop or Wholesale Establishment
Historic
- Commerce / Commercial Services
- Office or Office Building
Architect / Designer
William Blackmore
Builder
n/a
Additional Information
Location of Supporting Documentation
City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program
Cross-Reference to Collection
Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier
DhRs-554
Status
Published
Related Places
n/a