10 - Sunday, November 26 , 1989 - North Shore News

NEWS photo Neit Lucente

This is now

THE WRECKER'S ball made short work of the 83-year-old structure
when it was recently demolished to make way for a 1S-stores residential
development (right). The hotel was officially closed on Sept. 1.

BACK WHEN it was built in 1906,
the Oiympic Hotel — then called
the Palace — was billed as the only
hotel in B.C. with a rooftop
garden. With ro tall buildings
nearby to block the view, ihe 100-
room Palace Hotel was a popular
site for fesitive events such as the
one (circa 1907) seen above.

Charles Reda, the son of hotel
owner Lorenzo Reda, is shown
third from right in the group of
men surrounding the North Van-
couver firetruck (circa 1906),
above left.

The hotel underwent a major
renovation in 1948 and became
known as the Olympic Athletic
Club. In more recent history (left),
the **O”" provided low-income ac-
commodation and was a_ well-
known local landmark.