Housing being prepared for residents displaced by Gastown fire

Residents who lost everything when fire tore through the Winters Hotel in Gastown Monday are spending the Easter long weekend in emergency shelters, but it’s hoped by Tuesday, they’ll be set up in new homes.

Through the week, contractors have been working around the clock to get the old Columbia Hotel ready. The building was previously used as a hostel and Atira CEO Janice Abbott said her organization purchased it at the start of March.

“We had plans to house women and women-led couples in this building and we had sort of thought we would move people in in July,” Abbott said. Then the fire happened.

The building has around 70 rooms - some are self-contained with kitchen appliances and bathrooms, others require shared facilities. CTV News was given a tour of the building Friday while crews were still fixing wiring and other amenities.

“We’ve had the elevator serviced and made sure that’s in working order, and also the boiler,” Abbott said, adding most of the sprinkler heads also had to be replaced because that had been “inadvertently” painted over by the previous owner.

The building is big enough to house all 71 residents who were living in the Winters Hotel. Abbott said some are couples, so there will also be room for other people who are awaiting housing.

More than 70 people were also living nearby in the Gastown Hotel, another single-room occupancy hotel. Those residents are either staying in shelters or with friends and family.

Abbott said the building has smoke damage but believes residents should be able to return at some point.

“Understandably the City of Vancouver is reluctant to have the Gastown Hotel repopulated until the Winters' demolition is complete, just in case something goes wrong with the demolition,” she said.

The City of Vancouver is expected to give an update on Tuesday that will include a timeline for the demolition of the building will be carried out.