Here’s the Empire Hotel at 122 East Hastings in 1951 seen in a Vancouver Public Library image. Sixty years later it’s still there, these days called Brandiz Hotel, although it’s a permanent home for Single Room Occupancy residents. Like many buildings of the era (this one was built in 1913 and designed by H A Hodgson for Seabold and Roberts) the cornice has been removed. The building permit suggests it was built as apartments for $60,000, although it appeared in the 1913 street directory as the Hotel Seward.  Later it was renamed the Howard Hotel, before it became the Empire. The small restaurants and shops next door have recently been demolished, along with the Pantages Theatre, for a condo project.

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