Another one from the memory hole:

Daily Colonist
October 26, 1979

Harris Green blueprint before council

"Urban recycling" of 12 blocks bounded by Pandora, Cook, Fort and Blanshard is recommended in a study approved by Victoria city council...

"This concept for a new neighborhood rising on the eastern edge of downtown could have an important impact for the quality of the city's environment in the next quarter century," according to the study.

The new community, Harris Green, of more than 6,000 apartments and condominiums, would provide a "new pedestrian oriented lifestyle option."

Landscaped walkways would allow residents to reach downtown jobs, shopping and other facilities including the "hub of the transit network" on foot.

Objective of Harris Green would be to establish a high-density resident population along with complementary land uses within an attractive and viable environment.

Development would include a mix of public and private sector housing that would take care of a broad mix of income groups in order to avoid ghetto environments. (aastra says: until the future day when politicians decide the effort to include a broad mix has been too successful, thus motivating them to tip the scales back toward the "ghetto" end of the spectrum.)

There should be enough open space to meet leisure needs, while traditional landmarks and heritage buildings should be preserved (aastra says: the old Open Door building and the St. Louis/St. Andrew's school building on Pandora, for example)

Redevelopment of the area, the report said, WOULD REVITALIZE THE DOWNTOWN COMMERCIAL AREA (aastra says: until the future day when politicians decide to make open war against the downtown commercial area), and would also relieve redevelopment pressures on neighborhood conservation areas like Fairfield and James Bay. (aastra says: until the future day when politicians embrace the idea of "the missing middle" and thus begin stoking redevelopment pressures on the neighborhoods like never before)

One more to put an exclamation mark on the green's longstanding potential:

Daily Colonist
September 24, 1972

PANDORA'S GREEN

...presumably city council was hopeful of beautification of the Pandora gore, and in March, 1901 the city engineer and city assessor presented a plan for turning the proposed Pandora park area into flower beds. However, that scheme met with considerable opposition from taxpayers and the plan was tabled.

No progress was made until 1909, when concerned property owners banded together and petitioned the civic authorities to "establish a park, particularly where the roadway broadened between Cook and Chambers streets."

...Alderman Bannerman gave notice he would move at the next city council meeting "that the city engineer be instructed to prepare a plan for laying out the eastern portion of Pandora Avenue from Vancouver Street easterly as a recreation park..."

...a plan was submitted which called for "a walk down the centre with shade trees and flower beds for the lower section. The wider part of the gore -- between Chambers and Cook -- would have curving sidewalks throughout the area, shade trees, flower beds, grass and shrubbery."

"At the upper end would be a fountain where there is considerable rock and the water which would find its way down the incline to a pond about 50 feet in diameter situation midway between Cook and Chambers."

Evidently that plan was too costly as a modified one was adopted...

More of this article can be found in the Victoria changes thread...

The project will include an accessible play park for children, with playground equipment able to accommodate wheelchairs and mobility devices. Pretty neat :redface:

Click here to view attachment.