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VANCOUVER — The Waldorf Hotel is not easy to find. In fact, its operators freely touted it as a cultural hub in the “middle of nowhere.” It was the spot where serial killer Robert Pickton spent 25 years cruising for victims and, despite a $1.6-million renovation to spruce its dive bar image, after two years the operators had started asking for rent forgiveness.

Thus, when the structure was recently picked up for a tidy sum by one of Vancouver’s many builders of glass condo towers, locals assumed that its death warrant was signed. Protesters would file petitions and stage marches — just like they had done for the Ridge, an aging strip-mall cinema in Vancouver set to close its doors next week — but ultimately, the Waldorf’s kitschy sign would be on its way to the landfill before summer.

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That is, until Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson stepped in. “To lose such a historic building would be a big blow, which is why we need to do what we can to protect it,” he declared in an emergency statement issued Jan. 11, adding that he was dispatching the city manager to take all possible steps to protect the 66-year-old motor lodge.