Imperial Loyal Orange Lodge No. 1560
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Former Hall of Vancouver Imperial Loyal Orange Lodge No. 1560 located at 341 Gore Avenue in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1908.
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Vancouver Imperial Loyal Orange Lodge No. 1560 was Vancouver's first Orange Lodge having received its warrant on May 14th, 1886.
A very special day for Vancouver's Orangemen was July 12th, 1904, the day upon which 4000 took part in the ceremonies for the laying of the cornerstone for the new Orange Hall to be built on the northwest corner of Hasting and Gore Avenue. The newspapers reported that the expected cost of the new building was $30,000 and that most of the money was already on hand. Responsibility for erecting and managing of the building was vested in the County Orange Hall Building Association. Visitors came from the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, and the Interior for the special day. Prior to the laying of the cornerstone, the Provincial Grand Lodge held a meeting in Sutherland's Hall on Cordova Street. Following the meeting, the officers put on their full regalia for the parade to the new site. Led by the band of the Duke of Conaught's Own Rifle's, all the local and visiting Orangemen paraded to Hastings and Gore. A number of momentos were placed in the cornerstone, including an elaborately embossed and illuminated scroll listing lodges officers, members of the building committee, and others; local newspapers; a number of current coins; statistics about Vancouver; and other items. |
Brother William Burns, past member of Imperial Loyal Orange Lodge No. 1560, March 17th, 1938.
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The building was completed in 1907. The building’s main floor housed several businesses including a printers and Morgan Brothers Furniture, and upstairs were two floors; an assembly hall and above that a floor used for band practice.
The Lodge saw falling membership in the 1930's, but they were able to carry on with the help of Jack Whelan who staged wrestling matches on the top floor on Wednesday and Saturday nights from 1935. Finally in 1944 the Lodge sold the building to the National Housing Administration who in turn hired W.F. Gardiner to rework the building as housing, with 27 suites. The work was quite dramatic – the top two floors became three, and the arches were lost. A post office occupied the main floor.
The Lodge saw falling membership in the 1930's, but they were able to carry on with the help of Jack Whelan who staged wrestling matches on the top floor on Wednesday and Saturday nights from 1935. Finally in 1944 the Lodge sold the building to the National Housing Administration who in turn hired W.F. Gardiner to rework the building as housing, with 27 suites. The work was quite dramatic – the top two floors became three, and the arches were lost. A post office occupied the main floor.
With information from "Vancouver & Beyond: Pictures and Stories from the Postcard Era, 1900-1914" by Fred Thirkell, Changing Vancouver - then and now images and HistoricPlaces.ca
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