Uptown is a region of Old City. It is connected via subway. The road named Willis in the web series was changed to Cordova in the TV series. Alexei's apartment number was also changed from 36 to 23.
Uptown
Episode 0x01 - "Webisode 1": In Uptown, Alexei lives in Apartment 36 of an apartment building that is located at the intersection of 149th and Willis. There is a subway station on Montgomery Street somewhere within the vicinity of the apartment building. Next to the subway entrance is Greens' Electronics. Both Alexei and Ashley Magnus pass by this business on their way into the subway.
Episode 0x02 - "Webisode 2": While in Uptown, Transit Cop 1 and Transit Cop 2 are in a subway tunnel looking for a missing Transit Worker. TC1 ponders if the worker had caught an express train that took him up to Gunns Landing or Sentinel Green. TC2 mentions that the worker was checking the switches on number four line near 149th, and thinks that the worker didn't go far. TC2 is proven correct when the worker's body is seen laying on the track just farther ahead of them in the tunnel.
Episode 1x01 - "Sanctuary for All, Part I": In Uptown, Alexei lives in Apartment 23 of an apartment building that is located at the intersection of 149th and Cordova. There is a subway station on Montgomery Street somewhere within the vicinity of the apartment building. Next to the subway entrance is Greens' Electronics. Both Alexei and Ashley Magnus pass by this business on their way into the subway.
Eastside[]
Eastside
Episode 0x03 - "Webisode 3":Ashley Magnus has a rendezvous with Ernie Watts in a parking garage located on the Eastside of Old City for a weapons sale.
Episode 1x02 - "Sanctuary for All, Part II": Mere minutes after Henry Foss leaves Helen Magnus's side on a lower level, Henry catches Ashley Magnus on an upper level at the elevator right before she leaves the Sanctuary. While not seen, as Ashley departs the property, she is followed by John Druitt to where she meets Sylvio Rudd at a warehouse on the Eastside of Old City. Druitt is seen to subsequently crash this meeting as a ploy to get into the Old City Sanctuary. Ashley and Sylvio 'subdue and capture' Druitt, after which Ashley (unseen) calls Henry to bring the retrieval van to pick the three of them up; dropping Sylvio off at Doctor Lim's office somewhere in the city along their way before viewers see the van returning to the Sanctuary.
Circle Square[]
Circle Square
Episode 1x01 - "Sanctuary for All, Part I": Teleporting into an alleyway somewhere in Old City, John Druitt encounters a local Hooker and asks her about the location of the Old City Sanctuary. She tells him, "There’s a big old place down by the water, Grayson Street, I think." Shortly thereafter, he stabs her to death.
Episode 1x02 - "Sanctuary for All, Part II": Down in a lower level of the Old City Sanctuary, while Helen Magnus is up on the observation deck viewing Will Zimmerman interacting with Alexei in the observation cell below, she is informed by Henry Foss of a working girl who was found murdered (via typical old-school stabbing) behind a warehouse down near Circle Square about four hours ago. She requests to be sent the CCTV footage from that part of town.
River District[]
River District
Episode 1x08 - "Edward":Det. Joe Kavanaugh turns to Will Zimmerman to see if he has any helpful insight into the Glen Meyers suicide case that occurred two nights ago in the River District. During the Sanctuary's investigation, Will and Helen Magnus made a trip to briefly visit the residence to survey the room of Glen's death.
Episode 3x05 - "Hero II: Broken Arrow": After Kate Freelander (who's wearing Walter's suit) is captured by Virgil St. Pierre's men, she's brought to Jameson Sheet Metal (an empty warehouse) located at 4400 Pier Ave. Kate escapes and runs away as the Sanctuary team arrive outside the warehouse.
Kate then got into a fight with Brad and his crew in one of the unnamed warehouses located in the Warehouse District. Witnesses reported seeing her leave the scene while wearing a "leather suit".
Helen Magnus then uses a device to pulse the suit, which draws Kate to them in a random warehouse nearby. After Kate gets spooked and runs off, Will Zimmerman gets a tip that she was sighted at the intersection of Gridley Street at Burke.
While tracking the fleeing Kate, Henry Foss got a visual on her in the alley behind Morgan Avenue. Moment's later, Kate kissed him in this alley to get close enough to him to use his own stunner against him. Right after Henry was taken out, Kate KO'd Bigfoot in a very short display of hand-to-hand combat.
While Will was in pursuit of Kate, he caught a glimpse of her traversing the rooftop of a building that was located on Kent. As Will was running up a set of stairs to catch up to her, Kate kicked him, causing him to fall backwards down the stairs, knocking him unconscious.
Magnus catches up and intercepts Kate in the alley just on the other side.
Fifth Ward[]
The Fifth Ward is an old rundown section of Old City. It is a usual area for a large amount of the city's abnormal population to be found hanging around in.
St. Michael's Church[]
St. Michael's Church
Episode 3x04 - "Trail of Blood":St. Michael's Church is to be added.
The homeland project was the first step created by Caleb in an attempt to take over the surface and let abnormals co-exist and or also reign over humanity.
Homeland project
Episode 4x12 - "Sanctuary for None, Part I": The Fifth Ward is chosen as the ideal location for the abnormal homeland project created by Caleb and Helen Magnus. The homeland was a refuge area for Hollow Earth abnormals who wished to stay on the surface. The project consisted of buying old tenement buildings and bringing them up to code; something Magnus figured the city wouldn't have an issue with. Kate Freelander was enlisted and brought up from Hollow Earth to help set-up and organize this project; known to be involved in helping to create living quarters.
Episode 4x13 - "Sanctuary for None, Part II": An issue with the homeland occurred when more abnormals (both from the surface and from Hollow Earth) were showing up faster than initially expected, stretching the occupancy capacity. Magnus suggested to start diverting newcomers to other Sanctuaries, but Caleb was adamant that this is where they shall be and that they will find a way to make the logistics work.
Sacred Heart Mission is a building located within the perimeter of the abnormal homeland. Bigfoot is seen standing / waiting on the sidewalk underneath the building's signage. Kate is seen exiting the building through the open barn door just behind him. She joins Bigfoot for a brief discussion about his loyalty to the Sanctuary Network and him being a double agent working against Caleb and the Hollow Earth insurgents.
Episode 0x02 - "Webisode 2": There is a subway station platform at the intersection of 41st Avenue and 76th Street. John Druitt stabs a Transit Worker on the southbound platform.
Episode 0x03 - "Webisode 3": There is a former subway station platform located at the rail line's intersection with 98th Street. Helen Magnus explains to Will Zimmerman that the station used to be in-service before New City was built.
Episode 1x03 - "Fata Morgana": A locator device used by the Cabal Team Leader places Old City somewhere near the far western end of the border between Northwestern US (Washington) and Southwestern Canada (British Columbia).
Episode 1x04 - "Folding Man": The city has a campanile among its building architecture; It is used as a landmark reference for abnormal case locations. The pawn shopNomad and Carver rob is near to it.
A small chemical drug manufacture named Aridan Labs is located just three miles north of Old City.
Episode 1x07 - "The Five":Ashley Magnus drives over to a location somewhere in Old City to meet Squid. Unfortunately, it's a ploy by John Druitt to kidnap her again.
Episode 1x10 - "Warriors": After the Sanctuary looks into a string of several unsolved abductions of homeless people, they follow a lead of a stolen vehicle found near the estuary. When the team investigates a former awning factory in the otherwise uninhabited location, they come across Charles L. Denton.
Episode 1x13 - "Revelations, Part II": A camera sequence at the very end of the episode indicates that Old City is located on the north side of a river near Vancouver, British Columbia. Across the river to the south is "New City", the other half of the metropolis full of modern high-rises and skyscrapers.
Episode 2x04 - "Hero": At the beginning of the episode, Will Zimmerman and Declan MacRae are on motorcycles chasing after a fleeing empath (who's trying to break free from the mob) somewhere through Old City. They eventually corner the empath in an alleyway, but are ambushed by The Adjuster who "rescues" the empath from the Sanctuary Network.
Squid gives the Old City Sanctuary team a tip about the 'missing' Joseph Koster: some guy matching his description was seen acting very weird on the top floor of Saint Canare Place. When Will and Declan visit the condemned building, they find Joe's company employee badge and the half eaten carcass of someone's pet housecat that Joe had previously fed off of.
Episode 2x05 - "Pavor Nocturnus": During the Guardian's timeline in the year 2019, Helen Magnus wakes up at the run-down Old City Sanctuary. She leaves the building to forage for supplies in the apocalyptic remnants of Old City. After escaping from being captured by Will Zimmerman, she travels down into the subway and finds Jessica Mitchell on the same platform. She eventually returns to the Sanctuary with the girl. An injured Will joins her at the Sanctuary soon after.
Episode 4x05 - "Resistance": As Henry Foss tracks the Captured Abnormal via GPS that was taken by SCIU, he specifically says that SCIU transported the abnormal "across the border" reaffirming that Old City is indeed in Canada.
Episode 4x10 - "Acolyte": At the very end of the episode, Bigfoot meets with three Hollow Earth insurgents / sympathizers at the rear entrance of a building called McCullough's Off Broad Street. The passcode to be invited into the building is the insurgent catchphrase: "From below, We rise".
The location McCullough's Off Broad Street is named after Alan McCullough, the writer of the episode.
Based on "Off Broad Street", the building is/was assumedly a theatre before being taken over and used as an abnormal hideout; this is very fitting considering McCullough is a script writer.
The hospital is a medical facility depicted within Old City. Known medical professionals employed there are: Will Zimmerman (in webisodes), Nurse, Eleanor (works in the morgue), Med Tech (works in the morgue), and Meg (works in the ICU).
The name simply being the hospital is based on conjecture as the location was never given a proper title other than being referenced by character(s) as being "the hospital".
It is the only hospital ever seen within the massive city in the world of Sanctuary.
Presumably, realistically several more hospitals would have to exist in Old City based on sheer logistics of population per capita over such a large densely built land area, (perhaps even the actually named 'Old City Hospital') yet they are never acknowledged or depicted.
Hospital
Episode 0x01 - "Webisode 1": In the webisodes, Dr. Will Zimmerman is a resident psychiatrist working at the hospital who helps the OCPD interview Larry Tolson (a former patient of his) when they suspected him of committing Alexei's murders.
The Dead Bridge is an old, half-destroyed bridge crossing the river between Old City and New City. It is often used by members of the Old City Sanctuary as a meeting place for their contacts.
Episode 1x03 - "Fata Morgana":Ashley Magnus meets with Squid on Dead Bridge. She exchanges a paper bag (mealworms in rolled oats) snack for information about the Cabal.
Episode 3x16 - "Awakening": Near the end of the episode, Kate Freelander confronts Caster on Dead Bridge. He threatens her, upset that she raided his abnormal business. Kate in response warns him that she's protected by the Sanctuary Network now.
The refugee camp was a makeshift camp in Old City. It was situated on a large property lot that was semi-secure and could hold a lot of abnormals without much notice. There were towers with searchlights and secure gates at the entrance, along with a fence around the perimeter. Inside there was a maze of tents and shelters, including a command tent and a medical tent.
Refugee camp
Episode 3x20 - "Into the Black": In order to temporarily house the massive influx of abnormals who were emerging from Hollow Earth, Helen Magnus sent Will Zimmerman out to buy her a large vacant lot not too far from the Old City Sanctuary. The facilities on the lot were hastily set up and overseen by the Lotus Defense Corps. For the media cover story, the camp was cited as an Army training operation; the Sanctuary received a statement from the Chief of Staff backing them up. The camp shorty after became the scene of a abnormal riot after the supposed murder of one of the abnormals named Fallon.
This article page section is about Channel 13 News. For category page, see Category:Channel 13 News.
Channel 13 News is Old City's primary local news station. The members of the Old City Sanctuary team are known to watch its 'Breaking News' stories and Weather segments.
Channel 13 News
Episode 1x11 - "Instinct": Reporter Amy Saunders and cameraman Zach Spencer are dropped off at a warehouse by Freddy. At the end of the episode, Amy contacts Jason (news) to get in touch with national news stations based in New York.
The creators and producers of the show intentionally left the specific location (country) of Old City to be ambiguous outside of the assumption that it is somewhat of a "subdivision" of Vancouver. Due to this, it is naturally assumed by viewers to be in Canada.
While the city itself is not visibly seen in Episode 1x05 - "Kush", Episode 1x09 - "Requiem", and Episode 3x12 - "Hangover", it can be considered represented via the presence of the Old City Sanctuary being shown in some capacity including as displayed on video conference screens.
When looking at aerial views of the Old City Sanctuary, Grayson Street is a two sided road that runs parallel both east and west along the northside of the Sanctuary property; The front gates provide access to and from the street.
International cooperation[]
The United Nations and the U.N. Security Council are heavy players in the metropolis (especially Old City and the Fifth Ward specifically) during the abnormal insurgency. As the Sanctuary Network was in alliance with the United Nations (funded and fully backed by the British Government) between 1908[3] and early 2011, Helen Magnus had particular sway with the world's governments to let her control all of the abnormal events / cases that happened around the globe, especially in 'her own backyard'. In early 2011, Magnus and Will Zimmerman could at least try to direct the actions of Lotus Defense Corps (a private military force used by the U.N.), having them place their abnormal holding camp on a large vacant lot that Magnus owned.[4] However, three weeks later the agreement between the Sanctuary and the U.N. broke when liaison Greg Addison tried to force the Sanctuary Network under the explicit control of the U.N. Security Council.[5] Due to this 'exile', it allowed for other agencies to get involved in 'Sanctuary affairs' around the city; the dealings with abnormals and abnormal threats.
While Canada is part of the U.N., it is only a temporary seat of the U.N. Security Council unlike the United States who is a permanent seat.[6] Due to the U.N. connection and the U.S. being a defining force behind it, it allows two U.S. agencies - the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Specified Counter-Insurgency Unit (a new abnormal hunting division under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) - to infiltrate the metropolis, granting them jurisdictional power to act on Canadian grounds. The agencies set up a joint task force operations base in the FBI's field office in a high-rise building in New City which is located almost directly across the river from the Old City Sanctuary; giving them line-of-sight of the property.
Of this joint task force, Abby Corrigan (FBI) and Will Zimmerman (former FBI) were brought under the management of SCIU. Due to Will's connection with the Sanctuary, Greg Addison had reactivated him as an FBI agent in the hopes to get close to Helen Magnus due to her apparent affiliation with Caleb. Magnus, however, sent Will away to work with SCIU (the only legal option) and locked him out of the Sanctuary; preventing him from returning. Will had to resort to using his SCIU credentials to blackmail Captain Franklin (a former colleague of his) of the Old City Police Department with high connections to the city's Mayor's office to set up a false meeting to lure Magnus out in the open to arrest her. As Magnus fled the scene of the ambush, Will made Franklin call for police backup. This interaction shows that SCIU has power over local (Canadian) law enforcement, to force them into acting against their long-standing relationship with Helen Magnus. They unfortunately have to comply as the U.N. Security Council had 'blacklisted' the Sanctuary Network, practically barring anyone from working with and or aiding the network and its leader Helen Magnus; considering it a 'federal offense' if someone does so.
