Owners of three small businesses torched during a recent fire in old Vancouver have vowed to rebuild.
The two-storey brick heritage building, located at 317 West Hastings Street, is part of the city’s infamous Pot Block. It housed Cabbages & Kinx, a vintage clothing and alternative lifestyles store; Kind Seeds, a store-front and on-line supplier of marijuana seed and Blunt Brothers, a marijuana café. The upper floors of the building housed other pot-related businesses.
Initial reports from the Vancouver Fire Department indicated that the blaze may have started in a dumpster behind the building, but further investigation has led police and fire officials to suspect the blaze was deliberately set.
Const. Sarah Bloor of Vancouver City Police says that investigators have determined the fire was arson.
“The investigation is ongoing,” she said. “We’re looking for anyone who saw anything in the early morning hours from 5:30 to 6:30 a.m. on April 25.”
Police refused to confirm statements made by building tenants that four incendiary devices were found, three in a dumpster and one at the back door of Blunt Brothers.
Blunt Brothers Café owner Daryl Shelstad remains unfazed by the loss of his premises. His eyes red (though not from crying), Shelstad sat chatting with tourists inside The New Amsterdam Café a few days after the fire. He and his partner Todd Bolli founded Blunt Brothers six years ago and Shelstad is set on rebuilding.
“We could open five locations of Blunt Brothers and they’d all be busy,” he said. Shelstad is also co-owner of The New Amsterdam Café, located just two doors down from the destroyed building.
“We’ve lost everything, but it’s too early to put a price on it yet,” said Shelstad. “As tenants, we had no insurance, so everything is gone.”
Shelstad has not yet been in contact with building owner Lisa Lyn, who is in Hong Kong, but “she must have taken quite a hit,” he said. “All the stuff she sold in her Chinese import and export business was stored in the basement.”
Shelstad noted that other local businesses have also been affected by the fire. “I was talking to the owner of the convenience store across the street and he told me that business is down 40 per cent since the fire,” said Shelstad.
But he still has high hopes for Blunt Brothers. “Our first priority is to find a new location.”
Other fire victims are taking an equally mellow stance. “I’m down but not out,” said Steve Lippold, owner of Cabbages & Kinx. “I did manage to get my vault out. Too bad it was a bit of a slow cash day.”
He’s not sure what the future will hold for his company. “I’m still considering my options,” he said, adding that one of those options is to relocate in a nearby building.
Local support for the uninsured tenants has been strong. Posters advertising a benefit party to generate funds for the destroyed businesses adorn walls and phone poles around the area.
Next door at the B.C. Marijuana Party headquarters and bookstore, owner Mark Emery is hoping that the displaced businesses manage to remain in the neighbourhood.
“This area is a tourist destination,” he said. “Just walk through the store and ask the customers where they are from. People meet here from all over and they make lifetime connections.”
A quick survey of customers inside Emery’s shop and the neighbouring New Amsterdam Café reveals visitors from California; Seattle, Washington; Campos do Jordao, Brazil; and Osaka, Japan.
Emery is a well-known activist, president of the B.C. Marijuana Party, publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine and owner of Marc Emery Direct, a marijuana seed-selling operation.
“This used to be a crack block,” said Emery. “Now it’s cleaned up and the cops never have to come here. This is as civil a business as you can find anywhere.”
Emery’s businesses, also uninsured, sustained substantial damage from the fire. However, he responded by having a giant fire sale. “The fire left us with some electrical damage but the most important thing to note is that we are up and running, still open for business.”
Emery expressed concern for the future of the other heritage buildings on West Hastings, including the one that houses his own business. “The problem with these old places is the cost of bringing them up to code is just too steep.”
Hugh McLean, a heritage planning analyst for the city, says it is hard to predict the future of the building site. “Now that the building no longer exists, it is de-listed from the heritage register,” he said.
He noted that the building is in a designated heritage area and that any rebuilding plans will have to be approved by the city. “They will look at any plans very carefully, in the context of the other surrounding buildings,” he said. “The idea is retain the streetscape.”
All that remains of the building is a cordoned-off pile of rubble, but if the displaced business owners have their way, their companies will soon be flying high again.
