Introduction to Hastings-Sunrise

Hastings-Sunrise is a strong family-oriented community that expands from Boundary Road to Nanaimo Street, and from Broadway to Burrard Inlet. The neighbourhood is best known for being the historic home of the Pacific National Exhibition, whose operations is currently being phased out. The site will become the city's second largest part: Hastings Park.

History & Heritage

Hastings-Sunrise is located on the northern half of a block of land that the Provincial government set aside in 1863 for a town they expected to construct along the shores of what was considered one of the finest harbours on the West Coast. Gastown, farther west was eventually developed into the great port city. New Brighton, a small resort, did develop on the shoreline around where New Brighton Park is today.

New Brighton was a popular weekend retreat for residents of the Province's capital city, New Westminster. By 1868, vacationers, loggers and mill workers made the 16-kilometre journey from New Westminster to the Brighton Hotel by stagecoach. From there, a ferry, the Sea Foam began a triangular route: first across Burrard Inlet to the logging operation at Moodyville, then back to Stamp's mill and then along the northern shore of the inlet back to Brighton.

The settlement's name was changed to Hastings, officially the Hastings Townsite, in 1869. This was to commemorate a visit by Admiral George Fowler Hastings to the area. As Hastings grew, it claimed every 'first' for Vancouver: first road, first hotel, first post office, first telephone, first real estate transaction, first subdivision, and even the first ferry between Burrard Inlet and Victoria.

Hastings' role as a resort continued until the turn of the century. Leisure-seekers were drawn to the area for the New Brighton Hotel, which was destroyed by a fire in 1905, and the half-mile racetrack at Hastings Park. Local residents began encouraging for more wholesome activities such as tradeshows for dairy farmers, loggers and horticulturists. This pressure resulted in the first exhibition, staged by the Vancouver Exhibition Association, in 1910. By 1946, the event's success caused the site to be renamed "Exhibition Park". Today's Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) is the modern day descendent of the Vancouver Exhibition. The Provincial government until 1994 held the PNE's lease with the city. The City and the Province, which established the City as the owner of the site, signed a new agreement. The city has begun the redevelopment of Hastings Park by removing buildings and developing nature areas, gardens and water features.

Growth in the area was slow. Significant development did not begin until 1911; the year the Hastings Townsite voted to join the City of Vancouver. Hastings claimed many of the city's firsts, including first road, first wharf, first post office, first museum and first subdivision. Other firsts included first hotel, first telephone, first real estate transaction, and first ferry between Burrard Inlet and Victoria.

Most of the northern half of Hastings-Sunrise, the Hastings portion was developed for residential use in the 1920's, while the southern portion, Sunrise, was not developed until the 1940's.

A number of notable 1920's Craftsman homes remain in the area around north Hastings Street. One prominent landmark is the 1912 Girl's industrial School on Cassiar Street. The building is one of the few remaining examples of the Mission Revival style in the city, and features symmetrical massing with a formal entrance that leads into an arched colonnade.

A number of old elementary schools, including Franklin, Begbie and Hastings, were built in the area during the post World War 1 population explosion and remain to this day. The Pacific National Exhibition grounds have a good collection of Modern style buildings. This includes the Forum Complex and the Garden Auditorium, which was originally built as the Education Building and its one of the best examples of the Modern style in the province.