Boarded up for years now, and without a roof for nearly nine months, the buildings on the corner of Caledonia and Douglas Street were finally demolished today.
A corner grocery store, Red Hot Video, and an upholstery shop were the longest and last tenants of the buildings.
As the TC’s Jack Knox noted in 2012, Red Hot had been there since 1982, outlasting many mainstream video rental outlets.
Red Hot Video had made many headlines in the past. Lower Mainland outlets were subject to fire-bombing by a group known as the “Wimmin’s Fire Brigade”, associated with the Squamish Five. And in the early 80’s the Victoria outlet fought three charges of obscenity brought against it.
In 2014 the property owners, Yu Man Ng and Rafael Antonio Ng, brought forward plans for a restaurant building on the site. City councillors were less than enthusiastic about the small scale of the proposal, and at this time it’s unclear what the future plans are for the site.
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