Hastings Street once rivalled Granville as downtown Vancouver's commercial hub.
Thousands of people arrived by streetcar, interurban and ferry to shop at Woodward's and the numerous small businesses on Hastings, which also had a thriving theatre district.
But the street always had a rough side, thanks to its numerous cheap hotels and beer parlours. As downtown suffered in the 1960s and '70s, Hastings started to slide, and bottomed out after Woodward's closed in 1993. Virtually all the small businesses that once flourished on the street have closed.
Today, the neighbourhood seems to be getting worse and better at the same time.
Demolition crews in the 100block East Hastings are taking down a pair of civic landmarks -the Pantages Theatre and the Blue Eagle Cafe. There are no approved plans for the site, so it will probably be an empty lot for several years.
But the reopening of Save-on-Meats at 43 West Hastings, the opening of London Drugs and Choices in the Woodward's complex and the restoration of heritage buildings such as the Pennsylvania Hotel and the Flack Block have brought some life, and hope, back to the troubled street.
The next old business to be resurrected looks to be The Only seafood restaurant.
The Only was a Hastings Street fixture from 1917 to 2009, when it closed amid allegations of drug trafficking by its last operators.
The non-profit PHS (Portland Hotel Society) leased The Only name from the original owners, Tyke and Peter Thodos, who took the name back when the last operators had their business licence revoked.
Pattison Sign Group has restored The Only's classic neon sign, a sea horse leaping above whitecapped waves, and the PHS has leased the restaurant's former premises at 20 West Hastings.
"Basically we want to get The Only open and do it as part of a job training thing for [Downtown Eastside] residents," explains Mark Townsend of the PHS. "It's more like a training thing/social enterprise."
The Only's old menu will be resurrected, and the restaurant expanded into an old storefront next door. The PHS also hopes to reopen a 6,000-sq.-ft. second-floor space that used to house the Logger's Social Club.
The building needs a lot of work before it can reopen. Asbestos in the walls and ceilings on the second floor must be removed, and the electrical and plumbing are in dire need of repair.
"It's a mess," says Townsend.
"The basement was full of water that we had to pump out, [and] all the electrical is basically shot. It looked like Frankenstein, when they pulled those levers. Basically it's [suffered from] years and years and years of neglect, which is unfortunate."
Townsend hopes to have The Only open in six to eight months.
jmackie@vancouversun.com
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