A(nother) Year in the Life of a Bearista Bear: Sandy's Third Randomly-Scheduled Art Deco Architecture Contest

Saturday, September 6, 2025

Sandy's Third Randomly-Scheduled Art Deco Architecture Contest

Hullo!! Sandy Bear here, and I came across a tragical tale the other day which has inspired me... Soooo...

This lovely building was the Georgia Medical and Dental Building (GMDB). It was built in 1927-1929 and was a stellar example of art deco architecture in Vancouver. It was the first art deco skyscraper in Vancouver! Pretty, isn't it?? It was designed by the same people who designed the Marine Building! And we all know how much I love the Marine Building...

It was across from the Hotel Vancouver - that's it in the background on the right...

The GMDB building had these 10 foot high terra cotta nurse statues on the outside of the 10th floor...

They were called the Rhea sisters and the three of them were nicknamed "Gono," "Pyor," and "Dia" (funny, eh?).

If you've been paying attention... you've probably noticed that I've been referring to the building in the past tense... sigh...

In 1989... the building was demolished with one of those controlled explosions. It created quite a stir and after that the City of Vancouver did more to protect historical heritage buildings. The reason for the demolition... it wasn't earthquake proof. Sigh.

Scandalous!!! Really. They did save the Rhea sisters... and one of them is on a building up at UBC!

They replaced the GMDB with a building now called Cathedral Place (cause it's next to the Anglican Cathedral. This new building has a fibreglass replica of a Rhea Sister. Hmph...

Anyhow... this story inspired me to hold the 3rd Randomly-Scheduled Art Deco Architecture Contest!! It's nothing like being an annual contest... although the last ones were in 2019 and then 2021... anyhoo...

3rd Randomly-Scheduled Art Deco Architecture Contest

The idea is... get a picture of yourself (the stuffie... not the human) in front of an Art Deco building where you live (or travel)... more details below... Building should be in focus... stuffies can be out of focus... as they usually are...

Contest Details:

Take a picture of you (the stuffie) in front of an Art Deco building where you live (or travel).

One entry per stuffie. If there is more than one stuffie in your household... well... then you can have one entry for each stuffie... Maximum of 3 stuffies per household (looking at you Beanie Mouse & Co... and you Little Fox & Co!!!)

You can send the pic via email or post on your blog and send me the link... (littlecanadianbear {at} gmail {dot} com)

Winners chosen by random draw...

Prizes sent out by Canada Post (as long as it's not on strike (again)).

Deadline for submissions: November 30, 2025