Description of Historic Place

The Caldwell Block is a two-storey, Edwardian style commercial building on the main downtown thoroughfare in Nanaimo. The historic place is confined to the building footprint.

Heritage Value

The Caldwell Block is an integral part of a continuous line of largely intact, similarly scaled buildings located on the west side of Commercial Street.

Built in 1908, the Caldwell Block is a good example of a modest, vernacular Edwardian Commercial style building. The original brick façade is obscured by stucco but some of its features, including a cornice with brackets and moulded fascia, are still visible. Traces of the painted Caldwell's Clothing House sign are visible on the building's east side. Despite alterations, the building has maintained its character and reinforces the Edwardian era appearance of the west side of Commercial Street.

Source: City of Nanaimo, Development Services Department, file #6800-20-H01-02/35 Commercial Street

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of the Caldwell Block include:

-All of the elements of the Edwardian commercial style including the simple, restrained appearance, brick construction and cornice.

-The location of the building in the middle of a city block of largely intact period buildings.