AWARD OF HONOUR

The Rehabilitation of the Crystal Garden

Provincial Capital Commission, City of Victoria and Province of BC

In 2008 the City of Victoria completed a $6.8 million transformation of the Crystal Garden into a first class conference and banquet facility for the Victoria Conference Centre. This iconic building, with its large saltwater pool and distinctive steel-and-glass roof, was built in 1925 by the Canadian Pacific Railway as the city’s first “amusement centre”. Generations of people swam in the pool, danced in the ballrooms, and grew to love Crystal Garden.

Closed as a swimming pool in 1971, the building sat derelict for several years until it was rescued by the Provincial Government. Renovated by the Provincial Capital Commission, it reopened in 1980 as a publicly owned and operated tropical conservatory.

In 2004 the PCC closed the conservatory as it was no longer financially viable. Through a public process, a new privately-owned tourist attraction was awarded a lease. In addition to the operator’s renovations, the PCC invested $3.5 million in structural, electrical, mechanical, and seismic upgrades to bring the building up to modern standards. Of this, the Province contributed $1.5 million to replace the glass roof.

Opened in June 2006, this new attraction soon ran into financial difficulties and closed a few months later. The City of Victoria then assumed the lease and, with funding assistance from the Federal and Provincial Governments, undertook a massive overhaul of the building to serve as an adjunct to the Victoria Conference Centre directly across the street. The work included the installation of new heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment, and the construction of a new service building annex to provide catering capacity for sit-down dinners for up to 1,000 people. In addition, the facility was retrofitted with new wireless technology to integrate it with the existing infrastructure of the Conference Centre.

Subtle references to the building’s history include a glazed wall and lighting showing a portion of the former stepped seating area beside the original swimming pool, and a mock high diving platform with mannequins in period swimming costume. The carpeting for the floor was specially selected with lines simulating the swimming lanes of the pool.

The conversion of the Crystal Garden to a conference facility fulfills one of the basic standards of the “Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada”, which states “Find a use for an historic place that requires minimal or no change to its character-defining elements”. The new use allows for the continued experience of the large, uninterrupted volume of the interior, lit from above by natural light, and the appreciation of the building’s form and structure.

The combined efforts and contributions from the Provincial Capital Commission, the Province of British Columbia and the City of Victoria in rehabilitating and revitalizing one of Victoria’s most significant heritage buildings are an excellent example of a collaborative endeavor which will guarantee the continued enjoyment of the Crystal Garden for many years to come.

Rick Crosby and David Everett of the Provincial Capital Commission, Helen Cain of the City of Victoria, and Patrick Frey of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, will accept this Award of Honour.