Next Step For Vancouver’s Last Tourist Attraction

Storyeum was Vancouver's first tourist attraction in years

The entrance to Storyeum on Water Street in Gastown. Picture courtesy of Wikipedia.

The city of Vancouver wants to lease the site to Eco Fitness Ltd. Partnership, which would build said super gym, which would be expected to provide $750,000 a year in revenue for the first five years, as stated in a city report by John Breckner.

By Citizen Correspondent Amy Judd

Date Posted: 01/26/08

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I have many friends all over the world, which is great because whenever I want to travel, I can call one of them up and get free accommodation and a tour guide rolled into one. Of course the offer is reciprocated, but when my friend who lives in Athens told me the other day she was planning a visit to Vancouver, I began to think of places I could take her to and activities we could do. I hate to say that my list was very short.

My friend does not enjoy outdoor activities, including hiking or skiing or swimming or anything psychical. So far, we would spend three weeks going to the Aquarium, the art gallery, shopping of course, and the Vancouver Museum, although I have to confess I don’t even know where that is. Definitely need to pad the list out a little bit.

Now I love Vancouver – it is a great city to live in, and has a lot to offer many different kinds of people, but there are not a lot of tourist attractions, and while some may say that is a good thing, I feel it is a shame.

I visited what I would call our one tourist attraction a few years ago, and I really enjoyed it. Storyeum was not only an informative, but a fun and exciting way to tell the history of British Columbia. Sadly it closed, and for over a year the site has lain empty; the costumes and sets collecting dust.

Now something needs to be done with the building, and a few ideas are being thrown on to the table – a homeless shelter, a bowling alley, and a 24hr fitness centre.

It is doubtful the council will approve plans for a homeless shelter – it is too expensive and will not create any revenue. I also can’t imagine that there are enough people in Vancouver that are so desperate to bowl that they need an area the size of six NHL regulation ice hockey rinks to do it in, so it’s doubtful that will happen either.