144 Alexander St

The building was erected in 1912-13, probably for the Terminal City Iron Works, which had operated on this site since about 1906. The firm manufactured steam winches and did blacksmith work and general repairs for the marine trade.

This part of Alexander Street had other heavy manufacturing firms as well, notably Letson and Burpee Ltd., who manufactured and sold a range of machinery, and were located immediately east. Terminal City Iron Works survived for less than a decade.

The Burrard Iron Works acquired the building and the business before 1916, and the building soon changed hands again, to Shandia Engines. By mid-century it was used as a warehouse by the Army and Navy Department Store, and later became part of the adjacent Fleck Brothers Ltd. complex.

Architects Braunton and Liebert designed the attractive two-storey building. The architects produced many fine commercial buildings in their short-lived Vancouver partnership (1912-14). It was constructed with a heavy timber frame and fire-resistant millwork floors.

The elevation detail is particularly fine, seen in the surviving brickwork between the windows and the cornice. The ground floor of the facade has been entirely altered, first in 1961 and again subsequent to that. 

Only the front elevation remains today, braced by metal shores behind it.

The site has been landscaped as a garden and courtyard for the Four Sisters Housing Co-operative (153 Powell Street), which also occupies the large adjacent building at 118 Alexander Street, and is an important social facility developed by the Downtown Eastside Residents Association.

Source

Canada's Historic Places

More information

http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7950&pid=0