Marcello and Lilliane De Cotiis of Amacon present a $100,000 cheque

to VHF’s Robert Lemon & Diane Switzer

Past VHF Chair, Robert Lemon, presents donor Yosef Wosk with a recognition plaque.

The Save the Buildings Fund is a self-sustaining fund managed by the VHF that purchases heritage buildings within the City of Vancouver under threat either through demolition or renovation that removes their character defining elements.

The buildings receive protection under legal covenants on title requiring future owners to legally protect the buildings through Designation or Heritage

Revitalization Agreements. The VHF then sells the protected buildings with the proceeds returning to the fund. The VHF will not hold the properties indefinitely or undertake restoration or renovation of the buildings.

The Save the Buildings Fund is off to a good start in its mission to rescue threatened buildings.

Earlier this year Amacon launched the VHF Save the Buildings Fund with a generous lead gift of $100,000.  This was followed up with a gift of $25,000 from VHF supporter, Yosef Wosk.  We offer a huge thank you to Marcello De Cotiis of Amacon, and to Yosef Wosk for the first gifts to Save the Buildings Fund.

Periodically buildings of historical significance come under threat of demolition.  These buildings often languish under the public radar screen for years and are

not on the City’s Heritage Register. Once a demolition application is made it is difficult to make the heritage case for keeping the building.  A viable alternative is to purchase the building, and find an alternate developer who will include the original building in their re-development plans.   There are dozens of these funds around North America.  Some have been operating for years by purchasing buildings, ensuring their retention and then selling them to people whose plans include rehabilitating the building. 

The VHF has no plans to develop property but rather to save buildings from the wrecking ball by purchasing the buildings, and as quickly as possible selling them to people interested in their rehabilitation. 

With a little more funding the VHF will be able to step in to rescue our first building.  Consider making either a corporate or a personal gift to the Save the Buildings Fund.  You will be able to watch your gift help the city’s built heritage over and over again. 

~ Why save older buildings?

Vancouver 's heritage buildings are worth saving because they are important civic assets. They pay tribute to the people and enterprises that built our city.

Heritage buildings also make our city distinct for tourists, and their redevelopment creates popular places to live and work. Older buildings are a wonderful complement to Vancouver 's spectacular new developments whether they stand alone or are wrapped into redevelopment. Saving a heritage building conserves resources and energy already invested in a building. Our heritage is a non-renewable resource.

Because Vancouver recognizes the cultural, economic and environmental importance of its heritage buildings, the City has developed creative policies and incentives to sustain interest in developing heritage buildings for new use in the 21st century.

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