The Europe Hotel at Gastown

At Gastown, I found a narrow triangular prism-like building between Alexander Street and Powell Street, right opposite to the statue of Gassy Jack Deighton. It was called The Europe Hotel.

Below is the history of this building:

Angelo Colari, born in Italy in 1861, came from Victoria to Vancouver in 1886. He built the first Hotel Europe at 14, Alexander Street soon after the great fire of June 13, 1886.

In 1908, Colari commissioned the architectural firm of J.E. Parr & T.A. Fee to design a wedge-shaped building to be built right beside the original hotel. The architects copied the design from New York’s Flatiron building. The earlier Hotel Europe was converted into an annex of the new building.

This was the earliest reinforced concrete structure in Vancouver and said to be the first fireproof hotel in Western Canada. It is noted for its well-proportioned brick façade, sweeping classical cornice and crystal-cut glass windows. The Europe Hotel was one of Vancouver’s finest hotels. The basement housed one of the city’s most popular bars and it was here that much of the business of early Vancouver was conducted. In 1983, the building was converted into low-income housing units. The lobby retains its original tile, marble and brass fittings.