The Salient Group

New Stuff – The Flack Block

Former Vancouver City Councillor and Director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University Gordon Price recently posted about the Flack Block development on his blog ‘Price Tags‘.

Here’s what he had to say:

Signs of change are everywhere in Gastown and the Downtown East Side these days – most notably the Woodward’s tower, rising above it all. But the scaffolding has just dropped away from another development nearby, revealing what will undoubtedly be one of the heritage gems of the neighbourhood – the Flack Block.

This restoration and discreet addition at the corner of Cambie and Hastings, across from Victory Square, is another of Robert Fung’s projects by the Salient Group. One of the first to see the potential of a languishing Gastown, he is currently transforming the Alhambra Block and Mews at Maple Tree Square. But the Flack may be the project with the greatest architectural merit, though it had been badly treated over the years.

Designed by Vancouver architect William Blackmore, it was built during the Klondike boom in 1898 for about $100,000 – a substantial amount back then – and reflected the commercial optimism of the time. The design is Richardsonian Romanesque, with a remarkable entrance worthy of a heritage award all on its own:

 

Read his post and see more pictures of The Flack Block here.