Balmoral Hotel, the notorious, derelict Downtown Eastside SRO, is set for demolition

The City of Vancouver says the Balmoral Hotel is set to be demolished.

The Downtown Eastside single-room occupancy hotel, which has been shuttered since 2017 and in the city's possession since 2020, has too many problems to remediate, according to an assessment by the city.

The idea was to use the building, over 100 years old, as social housing. However, as the demolition order notes, it has continued to deteriorate over the last five years.

Among the problems noted in the demolition order are rotting walls, studs and beams; moisture throughout; bad electrical work and poor fire protection.

"Despite the city's ongoing efforts to maintain the safety of the building, the decades of underinvestment and mismanagement by the building's previous owners was irreversible," a statement from the city read.

"After receiving two third-party engineering reports on the current fire and structural risks it became clear that the building has deteriorated to the point that it poses a danger to the public and adjacent buildings."

The city says the demolition alone could take months "given the age, complexity and condition of the building."

'A pivotal place in the community'

City Councillor Jean Swanson says she'd like to see the building torn down as soon as possible.

"I think we should have some sort of ceremony when it goes down because it holds so many bad memories for the people in the community. I think people will be glad to see it go," Swanson said.

"The need [for housing] is huge. If we could get people off the street and into nice housing with a lock on their door and a cozy bed, I think it would help a lot."

Wendy Pedersen, director of the Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative Society, says the building was well-known for its physical problems — poor safety, broken fixtures and infestations of rats, bedbugs and cockroaches — but agreed it stands as a physical point of trauma in the neighbourhood.

She says many in the Downtown Eastside have known people who lived — and died — in the Balmoral, and that there's a widespread belief there are human remains in the building.

She says the demolition of the building needs to include a process of healing and listening to neighbourhood voices, especially Indigenous voices.

"Give a space to talk about the trauma, talk about their concerns ... Let space happen for the people who've lost family members," Pedersen said.

"It is kind of a pivotal place in the community, and I'm positive that skipping that step could be a huge detriment to the city."

The city and B.C. Housing both said social housing is in the cards for the Balmoral site, but details have not been sorted out.