Description of Historic Place

The Old Royal Bank Building is a two-storey stone commercial building constructed in 1910-11 at 262 Bernard Avenue, at the western gateway to downtown Kelowna.

Heritage Value

The Old Royal Bank Building is highly significant in the community because its architectural stature reflects the major role of financial institutions from Eastern Canada, such as the Royal Bank, in the development of Kelowna's business district. The Royal Bank of Canada, the building's first occupant, has been associated with the growth of Kelowna from its early days to the present day. This historic place represents the first stage of development in the western end of Downtown Kelowna, which was originally the City's financial center and also illustrates the area's recent transition to a leisure-oriented district. It remains one of the most imposing buildings among the cluster of historic structures at the waterfront end of Bernard Avenue.

The solidity and restrained classical detail of this impressive stone building represent the economic expectations and confidence in financial growth of Kelowna's boom era in the years before the First World War. One of relatively few stone buildings of the period, it was constructed in 1910-11 of pink granite from the LeFroy Quarry at Okanagan Landing.

The Royal Bank was the second bank to be established in Kelowna. It had operated since 1907 in the old wood-frame first Lequime store, across Bernard Avenue. This corner lot at Mill Avenue and Bernard Avenue became available when the Kelowna Sawmill Company relocated from the north side of Bernard Avenue to beyond Mill Avenue (renamed Queensway about 1952 in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II), turning an industrial area into a commercial one. The site was highly prized as long as the city's focal point for transportation was the nearby steamer landing on Lake Okanagan.

The Royal Bank remained at this location until the 1960s, when Montreal Trust, another national financial institution, became the new occupant. As Kelowna's financial and office centres shifted further east in the downtown core, the building was adapted in 1981 to become a restaurant. It has operated as a restaurant since then under various names, currently as Kelly O'Bryan's.

Source: City of Kelowna, Planning Department, File No. 6800-02

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Old Royal Bank Building include its:
- Highly visible corner location
- Significant two-storey commercial structure
- Use of cut ashlar granite as a building material
- Restrained classical design and details, seen in its symmetry, dentilled cornice, and window detail
- Arched windows on the ground floor and flat-headed windows above, both with classical surrounds with projecting keystones
- Segmented glass details in arched windows
- Decorative quoins at corners and two intermediate locations
- Classical pediment over the door on west elevation
- Stone plinths at ground level
- Continuity of commercial use for nearly a century