Sisters of Mercy

Vancouver, British Columbia
Type
Other

In 1989, the Georgia Medical-Dental Building at the corner of Georgia and Hornby Streets was demolished to make way for a new 23-storey office tower. A public campaign was raised to save the original statues for the new building. However, as these proved both extremely heavy and difficult to remove, replicas had to be made. When the new tower opened in 1991, the replicas were mounted at about the third-storey level, easily visible from the streets. The original statues were purchased and restored by Discovery Parks. They were installed on the Technology Enterprises Facility III on the University of British Columbia campus.

This building and a memorial plaque were designed by Chernoff Thompson Architects, who liked the statues and their history.

Inscription

Eleven feet high, modelled in terra cotta and dressed in First World War
uniforms, the three "Sisters of Mercy" now mounted on the fifth floor of
the Technology Enterprise Facility III building were salvaged from the
Medical-Dental Building on Georgia Street when it was demolished in 1989.

Opened in 1929, the Medical-Dental Building was Vancouver's first
comprehensive private sector medical facility, complete with its own
operating room. It was the first pure Art Deco style structure in
British Columbia, encrusted with terra cotta figures of medical,
religious and mythological symbolism.

A Vancouver landmark, it was the focus of an intense public preservation
campaign. Although the battle to save the building was lost, Discovery Parks
purchased and restored the salvaged terra cotta, with proceeds used to benefit
the Vancouver Heritage Foundation.

Visitor information

Location
Sisters of Mercy

6190 Agronomy Road
Vancouver
British Columbia
GPS Coordinates
Lat. 49.2614111
Long. -123.2468672
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