Petition to relocate iconic "East Van" cross sign to Hastings-Sunrise area

The "East Van" cross sign from SkyTrain VCC-Clark Station, and the Nature's Path office building construction site. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Should the iconic “East Van” cross sign, formally named the “Monument of Vancouver,” be relocated to a new and more prominent location?

The Hastings North Business Improvement Association (HNBIA) is calling for the striking public art sculpture to be relocated to their area within the Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood in the northeast sector of Vancouver.

A new online petition by the business improvement association seeking public support for moving the sign states their “quintessential pocket deserves an iconic landmark.”

They add that their rationale for moving the cross aligns with the original intent of artist Ken Lum of creating a geographical landmark for East Vancouver, with Hastings-Sunrise sitting on Vancouver’s original border of Nanaimo Street.

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HNBIA’s jurisdiction spans an area along the Hastings Street corridor between Clark Drive and Boundary Road.

View of the East Van sign from the #SkyTrain VCC-Clark Station platform.

It ought to be relocated to a better, more high profile location where people can interact and take photos with it.https://t.co/hJ0ZfXOJMw pic.twitter.com/anWuHIKoy3

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) January 3, 2023

The six-storey sign was erected at the northwest corner of the intersection of Clark Drive and Great Northern Way in 2010, overlooking the False Creek Flats to the west. Embedded in the cross are the words “EAST,” which is spelled vertically, and “VAN,” which is spelled horizontally, with both words sharing the letter “A”.

But the sign’s current location is problematic, with Clark Drive and Great Northern Way’s high vehicle traffic making the location uninviting. It is also not a photogenic site for such a significant public art installation.

However, it is visible for passersby riding the SkyTrain Expo and Millennium lines.

East Van cross looking south from Clark Drive. (Leon Wang/ Shutterstock)

east van cross skytrain vcc clark station

The “East Van” cross sign from SkyTrain VCC-Clark Station and the Nature’s Path office building construction site. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Some views of the sign will also be partially obscured by Nature Path’s new 10-storey office building, which is currently under construction immediately to the west on the city block. While the building is designed in a way to mitigate some of the view impacts and provides some public space improvements below the sign, the location is less than optimal for this significant public art piece.

When this public art piece was being contemplated by the municipal government in the late 2000s, Lum had originally proposed installing it at the prominent Mount Pleasant intersection of Main Street and Kingsway.

The relocation of the East Van sign to a more prominent and accessible location was also amongst Daily Hive Urbanized’s November 2022 list of 26 things that should happen in Vancouver over the next four years following the election of the new Vancouver City Council.

2105 Keith Drive Vancouver Dialog BentallGreenOak Nature's Path

Artistic rendering of the new Nature’s Path office building at 2105 Keith Drive, Vancouver, along with public space improvements around the East Van sign. (Dialog/BentallGreenOak)

Artistic rendering of 2105 Keith Drive, Vancouver, with the East Van sign also depicted. (Dialog/BentallGreenOak)

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