Granville SkyTrain station's long corridor gets big civic pride mural | Daily Hive

Granville SkyTrain station's long corridor gets big civic pride mural for vacant Hudson's Bay underground storefront

New civic pride mural for the former Hudson's Bay lower underground level storefront at SkyTrain's Granville Station. (Kenneth Chan)

The long corridor between the original ticketing hall and the Granville Street entrance of SkyTrain’s Granville Station is now a bit brighter and more visually interesting following years of decline tied to the gradual demise of the Hudson’s Bay flagship department store in downtown Vancouver.

For about four years, the corridor’s long south wall — once lined with sliding glass doors leading into the building’s elevators and the merchandise areas of the lower underground retail level — has been completely sealed off. This retail area was closed to customers and repurposed as storage during the final years of store operations.

In the early 2010s, Hudson’s Bay transformed the retail space on the north side of the corridor into the Foodwares Market. The market offered freshly prepared meals, grocery staples, and a dining area, reviving the floor’s earlier life as the Hudson’s Bay Grocery Store, which operated for decades until the 1960s. Over the latter decades, this level on the south side of the corridor generally hosted merchandise such as luggage, kitchenwares, Hudson’s Bay’s Team Canada Olympic clothing and apparel, and a short-lived toy store.

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However, although it was successful over the first few years, Foodwares Market never reopened afterward. A prolonged period of reduced foot traffic — initially due to the partial station access closure for TransLink’s escalator replacement project that began in 2018 and reached completion in 2020, and then from the years-long steep plummet in office workers and SkyTrain passengers due to the pandemic — hampered its recovery and ability to reopen. Only the market’s Starbucks resumed operations after the pandemic’s onset, ultimately permanently closing this past spring, just before the department store itself permanently shut its doors, leaving the corridor with zero activations.

New civic pride mural for the former Hudson’s Bay lower underground level storefront at SkyTrain’s Granville Station. (Kenneth Chan)

About a year ago, initially as a merchandise loss prevention measure, Hudson’s Bay also fully closed the store entrance from the corridor through the upper underground retail level near the street entrance, effectively also severing the direct underground routes to reach CF Pacific Centre, Vancouver Centre Mall, and SkyTrain’s Vancouver City Centre Station — now requiring people to reach these destinations by street level.

It remains to be seen what will happen to the former Hudson’s Bay department store building. This week, following a decision by a court-appointed receiver, the property was listed for sale for its immense future redevelopment potential that retains the heritage facade.

However, the process of establishing a clear direction for the property’s future is likely years away at the very least.

In the meantime, TransLink and Downtown Van (the local business improvement association for downtown Vancouver) have partnered to add some new life to the corridor’s south glass wall.

Earlier this week, the blank glass surfaces were replaced with a new print graphics mural, celebrating civic pride by showcasing illustrations of major landmarks and points of interest, such as Douglas Coupland’s Digital Orca sculpture, the Olympic Cauldron, Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada Place, Waterfront Station, Harbour Centre, Gastown Steamclock, BC Place Stadium, Science World, Granville Island, and the lion sculptures that flank the Lions Gate Bridge, along with some public transit themes such as through the depictions of buses, SeaBus, and SkyTrain.

New civic pride mural for the former Hudson’s Bay lower underground level storefront at SkyTrain’s Granville Station. (Kenneth Chan)

TransLink told Daily Hive Urbanized that it is working with the Hudson’s Bay property owner and downtown Vancouver partners to explore “opportunities to enhance the customer experience” within the corridor.

It remains unclear whether the north side of the corridor will also be activated. Over the past year, several of the sliding glass walls from the former market space were smashed and have since been covered with temporary boarding.

Thousands of people walk through this corridor every day.

Such activations — potentially including public art installations — also align with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles, which can help to deter graffiti and other vandalism.

Further north within downtown Vancouver, a few stops over on the Expo Line, the Waterfront Station platforms have seen the installation of new wayfinding signage that pairs real photos — a first for TransLink’s wayfinding standards — of landmarks and destinations with the name to improve the understanding of the directions.

New #TransLink wayfinding signs installed at the Waterfront Station platforms of #SkyTrain‘s Expo Line.

First time I’m ever seeing actual photos accompanying the names of nearby destinations and landmarks, very useful for visitors.

Hullo Ferries also has a directional mention. pic.twitter.com/vNEo0dwkFm

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) December 4, 2025

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