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| note the creepy smiley faces in the top floor window |
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| right side |
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| handy parking lot next door to walk in and get the side view |
Check out the Google street view if you're interested in the context; it's from April 2014, and the building looks basically the same as in my photos. But here are two screenshots for comparison:
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| those signs by the door are intriguing--too bad I can't zoom in close enough to see what they are |
And a few closeups:
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| look, only one smiley face |
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| the fire damage (see below) is more obvious in Google's pics |
According to the Hallmark Society the building was constructed in 1910 and the original owner was Miss Constance MacNaughton-Jones. I've also managed to discover that it was originally Victoria Private Hospital. As reported in the 1911 census, 37-year-old Emma Benner worked as a nurse there. In August 1912, the Daily Colonist reported that "excitement was occasioned at that institution" when the wallpaper caught on fire due to the stovepipe hole having been papered over, instead of fitted with "a regular metal stopper"--"when a fire was started in the furnace, the heat sot the paper ablaze. The brigade was summoned but no damage was done."
In September 1912, an ad ran in the Daily Colonist asking "the gentleman who so kindly assisted the lady who fell from the street car on Yates St. Tuesday night" to "communicate" with a Mia Grimmer or Miss Trimmer (I'm guessing it was supposed to be Miss Grimmer? Text recognition software is nice but can only get you so far...) at the hospital. In 2013, a woman wrote that the building "deserved recognition as a heritage site", as in 1919 "it was a nursing home where babies were delivered, including me." The Daily Colonist announced the birth of a boy there in 1917, and it's given as the place of birth on the birth certificate of a woman who was born in 1920. In 1925 the hospital moved to Yates Street (and closed two years later). (That source is a Google Books preview, and unfortunately it doesn't include the preceding page, which looks to have a little more about the hospital's history.)
In 1934, the building was advertised in the Daily Colonist as "Victoria House": "Small apartment, kitchenette, hot and cold water: quiet, comfortable". And in 1940, it's given as someone's address in the Daily Colonist. From 1957 to 1958 it was the home of Jane Kate Crerar (known as Jean), a Canadian stenographer who ended up in Singapore during World War II. After evacuating to Australia and then living in Hong Kong, "In 1949 she inherited a sufficient amount of money and shares [...] to allow her to move back to British Columbia in comfort, in 1950". You can read her whole story (and those of many of her relatives), including quotes from her unfinished book, at the link.
The Hallmark Society site has two photos of the building in the '70s, still known as "Victoria House" (a name that, sadly, doesn't open up any further Google possibilities--can you get more generic?).
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| compare this to my photo above--it's almost exactly the same angle (source) |
In this one there's a sign up advertising a 2-bedroom apartment for rent.
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| source |
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| source |
There are so many relevant articles that I'm going to assign them letters to make citation easier (also, most of them contain photos). Prior to the fire, according to long-term residents (article A), "the building had become rundown and [...] too many high-risk tenants with mental-health issues and addictions and in need of supervision were being allowed to rent." Apparently (B), "Mental health patients were taking their medication with alcohol and were regularly falling asleep or in a stupor while smoking cigarettes." The place was "a source of noise and disruption for some" in the neighborhood.
"There was a lot of visible clutter and debris—to the point of hoarding—in some units," according to the fire inspector (C). The president of the company that owns it said that it "was a 'wet house' for people who drink, that the tenants were hard on the buildings and that renovations and repairs didn’t last long" (B). According to article A, "An inspection—one of many—was held after tenants complained in October 2012 about wires shorting out, rats, mice and bedbugs. The problem was so bad that at least one tenant camped in the backyard. [...] In December 2012, there were complaints about a fourth-floor window 'broken for about two months'. In January, a bylaw officer noted in an email: 'the property is in transition to becoming social housing.' "
The president of the company claimed that (D) "The ownership group is quite a compassionate group and supported this kind of building to continue." But things got so bad that eventually, "a complaint was made by a Vancouver Island Community Outreach Team police officer. An inspection by RESPOND—a multi-agency team including a bylaw officer, fire, building, plumbing and electrical inspectors, a VIHA [Vancouver Island Health Authority] environmental health officer and representatives from social services, housing and animal control—was requested. That inspection was scheduled the day of the fire" (A). The VIHA spokeswoman said of her agency's attitude prior to the fire, "While we were not pleased with the condition of the building, it did provide housing for a high-risk, very marginalized population who would likely be homeless or in shelters if it was not for the availability of Rockland Manor" (A).
The fire occurred at 1:50 a.m. on June 25th. It "originated at the end of a top-floor hallway between two units, where the fire escape is located" (C). The cause was likely discarded smoking material. The house had a manually-operated fire alarm, which was pulled, but because of the fire's location, residents had to climb out of windows to escape it. One man ended up hanging from the roof. According to Lt. Gord Taylor (E), "He was a little traumatized so we had to coax him and help him down." He was rescued with a ladder and hospitalized for smoke inhalation. (See article D for a more detailed account, including quotes from the man.)
"It took 20 firefighters and three fire trucks several hours to extinguish the fire" (source). The firefighters eventually went inside, where, according to Taylor, "The fire had burned railings and ceilings had fallen" (E). Retired firefighters reported that "there was a similar fire in the same location of the house in the 1980s" (C).
The displaced tenants were allowed to enter the building to collect their belongings two days later. The Salvation Army housed some of them, who were still there as of July 12th. There was some controversy surrounding their housing, which you can read about in several of the Times Colonist articles.
According to a blog someone made to try to do something about Victoria's derelict buildings (Rockland Manor was the only place ever posted about, though), there was another fire on June 29, 2014, almost exactly a year after the first one: "I watched in horror as smoke wafted by my window early evening. When I went out onto my balcony, I saw the Victoria FD already there with axes and fire hoses quelling the fire." The author also notes that area residents have called the police multiple times about the building, due to other fire scares and people trespassing.
The only other stuff I've got on the place is a few random mentions:
- In a VICOT (Victoria Integrated Community Outreach Team) powerpoint from 2010 or 2011, listed as "market rent" housing
- In city council minutes from April 2010, stating that a member moved "to secure the rooming house units at 1114 Rockland Avenue [...] as rental in perpetuity" (I don't know what that means, though...).
- On CBC's website--a radio story about the fire that unfortunately won't play for me; I'm assuming the audio is just gone at this point, but I'm including the link just in case the issue is on my end.
Nothing anywhere about what's going to happen to it--i.e., when it's going to be demolished. Doesn't look bad on the outside, but the inside sounds pretty unsalvageable.
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