NARRATOR

Here is Jon-Paul Walden reflecting on his experiences with the contemporary era Vogue Theatre.

JON-PAUL WALDEN

When I was running the Vogue I had to dabble with the neon constantly. It was sort of my pet project. I love the effect it had turning it on at night. And so I would work with it the best I could because it’s a very expensive project.

NARRATOR

Granville Street has changed dramatically in the years since Jon-Paul left his post at the Vogue in 2006. Thinking back to his time working there in the early 2000s, Jon-Paul recalls a very different downtown core.

JON-PAUL WALDEN

I remember working at the Vogue and Seymour was dicey then. I mean, I know that, unfortunately the prostitution ring had sort of moved into Seymour Street, so I remember walking down Seymour and it was a little sketchy. Now it’s the complete opposite.

NARRATOR

Life on the street has changed since the days Jon-Paul worked at the Vogue, too. Here, he recalls his relationships with people who lived in the alleys behind the theatre.

JON-PAUL WALDEN

There were a number of street people that lived in that alley. So you’d have to learn to deal with that and work with that and work with them. Because essentially, they’re the caretakers of the street at night, however they wanted to.

So you, particularly with the Vogue, which opened its doors in the alley, half of its traffic came in from the backdoor, so I would try and work with these people because they had an understanding of what was going on and they became the stewards of the streets and my protectors at times and would be warning me of certain things. Because they knew the streets better than I did, or anybody, frankly.

NARRATOR

We now experience a more cleaned-up Granville Street than the one Jon-Paul remembers from the early 2000s. He has mixed feelings about the change.

JON-PAUL WALDEN

Whether it’s shifted for the better? I suppose so. Is it more interesting? I wouldn’t say so. ‘Cause I do find that street life and that organic kind of existence very real. And we have this ability in Vancouver, I suppose, to just to wipe it clean and push it away and, as opposed to really working with it and understanding it and sort of, taking on the responsibility of what we’ve created as a society instead of sweeping it underneath to the next street to the next street.