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Mount Crown Block

109 East 1st Street, North Vancouver, British Columbia, V7L, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1995/07/10

Exterior view of the Mount Crown Block, 2004; City of North Vancouver, 2004
Oblique view
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Other Name(s)

n/a

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1911/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2005/02/25

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Mount Crown Block is a three-storey plus basement Edwardian era brick clad commercial and residential building, located near the waterfront in Lower Lonsdale in the City of North Vancouver.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Mount Crown Block is associated with its location in Lower Lonsdale, the commercial core of North Vancouver, and the earliest, most historic area of commercial buildings on the North Shore of Burrard Inlet. Lower Lonsdale grew explosively from the turn of the twentieth century until the general financial depression in 1913 halted the ambitious construction of the previous years. The streetcar, ferry to Vancouver and the Pacific Great Eastern railway converged at the south foot of Lonsdale Avenue, the major transportation hub on the North Shore. The area represents a formative period in B.C.'s economy, driven at the time by major industries including logging and shipbuilding.

Built in 1911, the Mount Crown Block is valued as one of the prominent buildings from the boom era in the City of North Vancouver. Built for C.A. Lett and Son, at the time of its construction the Mount Crown Block was one of the largest apartment buildings in the city. The first floor of the brick and pressed metal clad building housed two retail shops, to provide commercial space for businesses seeking to locate in the active Lower Lonsdale area. Eighteen apartments on the two upper floors provided housing for the large number of workers needed to support burgeoning commercial trade and the shipbuilding industry.

The Mount Crown Block is valuable for its association with its architects Dalton and Eveleigh, one of Vancouver's pre-eminent firms known for their high quality commercial, institutional and residential buildings, including many apartment buildings and hotels. There is also value in its association with contractors Baynes and Horie, well-known builders who prospered as the Lower Mainland developed in the boom years prior to the First World War.

Source: Heritage Planning Files, City of North Vancouver

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Mount Crown Block include its:
- relationship to other commercial buildings in Lower Lonsdale
- location at the streetline, with no setback
- boxy form and symmetrical massing, with a central entry to the upper floors
- flat roof with raised parapets
- brick cladding, detailed with decorative inset brick panels on the third storey of the front facade
- projecting two-storey bays at front marking the residential floors
- multi-paned, double-hung 8-over-1 wooden-sash windows

Recognition

Jurisdiction

British Columbia

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (BC)

Recognition Statute

Local Government Act, s.954

Recognition Type

Community Heritage Register

Recognition Date

1995/07/10

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Developing Economies
Trade and Commerce

Function - Category and Type

Current

Commerce / Commercial Services
Office or Office Building
Residence
Multiple Dwelling

Historic

Architect / Designer

Dalton and Eveleigh

Builder

Baynes and Horie

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

Heritage Planning Files, City of North Vancouver

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

DhRs-395

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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