VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Tonight the sky above the Downtown Eastside will be lit with a familiar symbol for the first time in over a decade with the relighting of the famous neon "W" atop the Woodwards building.
Seventeen years ago today the original "W" went dark, an event that came to symbolize the Downtown Eastside's decline. Activist and one-time politician Jim Green says the lighting of a new "W" is not only a link to the neighbourhood's past but represents its renewal fueled in large part by the half-billion dollar Woodwards development, "That 'W' means so much to so many people and has for so many generations now. A lot of things are coming true. I can't say that Woodwards is a perfect project but I think it's the best anyone could have done at this time in our history and I think it is a model that people should endorse everywhere and people are."
The relighting itself is set to happen between 6:05p.m. and 6:15p.m with help from the Bladerunners, a group of local at-risk youth, a program Green says he's very proud of.