West Vancouver’s iconic West Coast Modern service station on Marine Drive is about to go through massive modernization – but keep its '60s chic.
District of West Vancouver council voted July 20 to allow some variances so the owner of the Cypress Park commercial complex and gas bar at 4360-4370 Marine Dr. can add a new canopy over the fuel pumps, replace the car service bay with a convenience store, and install upgraded washrooms and a new covered parking area.
Owner Guff Muench said he asked his architect to make the new canopy “the most interesting canopy in Canada” but make the design in keeping with what’s already there.
“I think it's a really neat part of West Vancouver and neat historical spot, but it's a little tired and needs to be rejuvenated,” he said. “Modernize it but not make it modern. I kind of like the way it is, personally.”
The Cypress Park Market on the eastern side of the site will eventually also be updated and occupied by a new independent café, Muench said, which he envisions as becoming a neighbourhood hub.
Council was unanimous in appreciating the design proposal.
“In my view, it's polishing up this little West Vancouver neighbourhood gem and really making it sort of relevant in terms of the services and amenities that they're hoping to provide,” said Coun. Peter Lambur.
Coun. Bill Soprovich recalled nostalgic memories of taking his kids to the station to get candy when they were young.
Coun. Sharon Thompson said it was refreshing to see a proposal come forward that didn’t seek to maximize the lot to its highest and best use.
But, Coun. Craig Cameron questioned whether the land could be better used for the neighbourhood, especially given the climate crisis and fossil fuels being a “sunset industry.”
“The notion that we're building another gas station is totally contrary to where we need to be moving both as a community and as a country,” he said. “I would rather see something a little bit more ambitious in terms of a commercial space and maybe some residential.”
Muench said he realizes gas stations will be obsolete in 25 or 30 years and he was considering closing the site down entirely because the gas retailers that had operated there recently haven’t been profitable.
“I had three tenants and five years and they never got the volume really necessary to make it successful,” he said.
But, he added, Chevron’s retail division approached him and said with proper upgrades and 94 octane gas, the station could attract twice as many customers.
“I think we're going to give it a try. With double the volume, it makes financial sense,” he said.
Neighbours from nearby Erwin Drive questioned how plans for a new restaurant café might impact their neighbourhood, although the exact plans aren't finalized yet, according to the architect.
Harold Kalman, a heritage conservation specialist and architectural history writer, described the commercial complex as part of the second generation of West Coast Modern architecture born on the North Shore.
“The innovations included simple, rectangular forms, flat or low-sloped roofs, and large expanses of windows to exploit the views. Wood was the primary building material and post-and-beam structures the main construction technique. The second generation, including this gas station, adopts this vocabulary, but here it is more a conscious choice of style than a pioneering approach to architecture,” he said.
