It’s been nearly two and half years since the City of Victoria condemned the historic glass-prism sidewalks on Broad Street near Bay Centre — and three businesses are still wondering when the barricades will come down.
The Broad Street side of the Yarrow Building and a portion wrapping around the corner on Broughton have been fenced off since April 2022, and two businesses have since left.
Although there is access via ramps into the remaining bakery, coffee shop and retail store, the fencing blocks the windows, accumulates dirt and bird droppings and gives the impression that the stores are off limits, say the store operators.
Jim Cassels, who has operated Simply the Best for more than 40 years in the 1000-block of Broad Street, said his novelty, gift and clothing store has lost 30% of typical revenue since the barricades went up.
“We’ve certainly lost business. We’re paying high rent in order for shoppers to see our windows and our customers can’t even get near our windows,” said Cassels, who uses mannequins on the barriers to attract customers. “And no help on the rent from the city or the landlord.”
The glass prisms were built into the sidewalks around the Yarrow — and many other buildings in the city — at the turn of the last century to provide light for under-sidewalk tunnels that were used for storage.
The caverns provided merchants access from outside the building to deliver freight and coal.
The prism sidewalks were supported by iron beams or reinforced concrete extending from the street to the foundation of the building, with many later replaced with thick wooden supports. Others around the city have been filled in and the glass prisms replaced with concrete.
Some wonder if the prolonged delay around the Yarrow Building stems from disagreement about who is financially responsible for the sidewalk fix.
Asked for the cause of the delay, the City of Victoria declined requests for an interview with its engineers, but provided a statement saying the use and maintenance of under-sidewalk basements is regulated by a special bylaw.
It said since decommissioning such basements and replacing the sidewalk can be prohibitively expensive for building owners, particularly those managing heritage properties, the city has historically shared the costs with owners during redevelopment, major renovations or as part of planned city capital projects.
The city statement added that while under-sidewalk basements are generally on city property, “decommissioning processes must also address the structural support of the building,” which includes a review of the building envelope, foundation drains and underground utilities.
The Times Colonist requested a comment from the Yarrow Building’s owners, via Newport Property Management, but did not immediately hear back.
The Yarrow is registered to local owners and was assessed at $24.5 million in 2024. The six-storey heritage building was built in 1911 and housed the Victoria Stock Exchange in its basement until 1916 and the exclusive Pacific Club in its top floor until 1963.
It now contains retail stores at ground level and more than 50 offices.
The city provided no timeline for completion of the sidewalk, saying the work involves “complex assessment, design and planning work, which is a lengthy process.”
It said the city is “committed to resolving the issue as quickly as possible and continues to engage with the building owners.”
David Boetti, a partner in Bon Macaron Patisserie at 1012 Broad St., said the barricades have been up far too long. He said foot traffic has fallen off, particularly from tourists, and revenues are suffering.
“Our staff prepares these beautiful displays in our windows, but no one can see,” said Boetti. “These ramps can be intimidating for people. The city tries to put out chairs and planters, but behind the barricades it’s very dirty and not maintained.”
He also said the ramps and closed areas are attracting rats. “Since they installed these barricades, they have places to hide and come running out,” he said. “We never saw rodents before this, and we have to be very careful of the doorways.”
Sean Sloat, who owns Macchiato Caffe on Broad Street, has barricades on both Broughton and Broad streets, though the city has closed off Broad Street to vehicle traffic, allowing for a street patio.
But the sidewalk issue has been “frustrating,” Sloat said.
He said dirt and seagull droppings accumulate behind the barricades and is hardly ever cleaned by the city or landlord, giving his inside diners unpleasant views on what is otherwise a unique sidewalk.
“It’s been a serious setback for everyone on the block,” said Sloat.
Like the other remaining merchants, Sloat wants answers about when the repairs will done.
He said the purple-coloured glass prisms were an attraction, “but most of us don’t care anymore … we’d just like it fixed.”
Two businesses, Mismack Cosmetics and DJ Bremner, each left 1,000-square-foot spaces in recent months.
Anna Wray, the Yarrow Building’s listing agent for Colliers international Victoria, said the vacant stores on Broad Street are a challenge to fill.
She said downtown is facing several issues for businesses, including safety and security concerns, parking and fewer office workers due to home-based working. “But the barricades [in front of stores on Broad] right now are impacting that ability to say yes for new businesses,” said Wray.
“Every potential tenant is asking: ‘Why is this here and what’s the situation … how long?’ Those are questions I can’t answer at this point.”
History at your feet
The city has not made it clear if it will replace the Broad and Broughton street sidewalks with glass prisms, either new or salvaged from the current site, or from other prism sidewalks it has in storage.
A City of Victoria spokesperson said the city is aware of 70 basement areaways that have been decommissioned or filled in — the most recent near projects at 767 Douglas St. (Telus Ocean Building) and 634 Johnson St. (Best Western Hotel).
There were also prism sidewalk sections around the former Plaza Hotel on Pandora Avenue, which burned to the ground in 2019. Those prisms were earlier covered in concrete, but remain underneath.
According to the city, there are about 170 under-sidewalk basements in downtown Victoria, many of which date back to the early 1900s.
Hector Furtado, long-time manager of the City of Victoria’s streets division — and retired now for 13 years — said in an interview the Fort Street sidewalk tunnels in front of the Yarrow building were filled in several years ago, but the glass prisms were salvaged and replaced to preserve the aesthetic.
That might also be the plan for the Broad Street side, but the city did not confirm that.
The prisms are inserted in heavy galvanized steel sections, in some cases five-foot-squares containing dozens of the glass blocks, and sealed in the frames with concrete.
“They are quite durable, but over time they did get damaged,” said Furtado, noting dropped hammers or kegs of beer or vehicles and heavy pedestrian use would crack the prisms.
Furtado said some prism panels salvaged from city sidewalks were stored in the Garbally Public Works yard for repairs. City crews also filled the damaged cubes with concrete or iron at times.
The sidewalk prisms were added to the city’s heritage registry in 1990.
Historian Janis Ringuette, who wrote a blog post in 2007 called Walking Over History, said the three sidewalks around the Yarrow Building — on Broad, Broughton and Fort streets — contained 73% of the city’s surviving 11,155 intact prisms.
The glass was clear when first installed, Ringuette wrote, but the prisms slowly turned a striking purple colour as the manganese, used in the manufacture of glass from 1900 to 1914, oxidized in sunlight.
Some of the locations had lighting underneath that made the sidewalks glow at night.
Furtado said the glass squares had prisms on the bottom that refracted light from above to “really light up the basement … more than any bulb could do.”
According to Ringuette’s post, purple glass blocks can be seen — and walked on — in a few remaining locations, including the Sayward Building (1207 Douglas St.), the Ritz Hotel (706 and 714 Fort St.), the Hamley Building (602 Broughton St.) and at the entrance to Willie’s Bakery and Cafe (537 Johnson St.).
She also pointed to prisms in front of the Montrose Apartments (1114 and 1116 Blanchard St.), and at the Park Mansions Building (903 North Park St.).
Glass sidewalks and areaways were popular in several West Coast cities during the early 1900s, including San Francisco and Seattle, which still provides tours of the basements.
Vancouver has about 25 locations where prism sidewalks still exist.
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