The large shelter framed with giant timbers in the Market Square courtyard will be coming down.
The shelter’s roof is in poor condition with some rotting beams and columns, Andrea Hudson, city assistant director community planning, told Victoria councillors last week.
Council authorized a heritage alteration permit so the heavy timber structure, which is not listed on the city’s register of heritage properties and is not considered to have heritage value, can be removed.
In a letter to council, Kim Harrap of Anthem Properties Group said the demolition work is necessary. “We look forward to having a brighter, more welcoming walkway through the square, connecting Johnson and Pandora,” the letter said. The changes will also increase natural in the courtyard, Harrap said.
The beams were originally part of the Rithet wharf in the Outer Wharf area of Victoria near Ogden Point, said Coun. Pam Madoff.
“It was the heart of commerce,” she said. “It was the gateway to the city, but it was also the gateway to the Pacific Rim with the amount of trade that came in. So that was really the economic engine for the region.”
When the wharves were being demolished, the timbers were salvaged by the developers of Market Square, Madoff said.
The pieces of wood are 12 metres long and weight three tonnes each, she said. “They were logged from the Cowichan Valley and they don’t have a single knot in them. So they’re very significant in terms of their structure themselves.”
Madoff said Market Square was intended to be used as a festival market.
“The shed was constructed to provide a location for farmers and the farmers market. Unfortunately, it has not been successful in that regard,” she said.
“It’s interesting, because if you look back historically in the City of Victoria, every public market has failed. ”
A motion encouraging an appropriate use of the timbers, preferably in a local heritage context, was also passed.
As part of the work, a temporary building that had been used as a display suite for the Union condominium will also be removed.
