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Palace Hotel

251 Main Street, Penticton, British Columbia, Canada

Formally Recognized: 2007/04/16

251 Main Street; City of Penticton, 2007
Exterior front view, 2007
251 Main Street; Penticton Museum and Archives, c.1965
Historic exterior front view, c. 1965
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Other Name(s)

Palace Hotel
251 Main Street
Reid Coates Hardware
Audio Visions

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2020/01/10

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Palace Hotel is a two-storey, wood-frame building with a steeply pitched front gabled roof. It is fronted by a wooden false front on the upper level and a single-storey brick storefront on the lower level on Main Street in Penticton, British Columbia.

Heritage Value

The Palace Hotel is valued for its unique identity as the only remaining wood-framed commercial building on Main Street. Constructed in 1902, it is an important reminder of the era of false-fronted wooden buildings that pre-dated fireproof brick and concrete construction. At the end of World War I it was converted to a hardware store; later the single-storey brick front was added.

The Palace Hotel has historic value related to its original use as a hotel and as a landmark structure that reflects the importance of Penticton as a staging area for the trade between the South Okanagan and Similkameen mining towns and the Okanagan Lake transportation system. The hotel was an important meeting place for commercial visitors and for local boarders, as it was considered a clean, well-run establishment without a saloon, and also hosted a veranda where local news could be heard. In later years it served as a retail outlet for the Reid-Coates Hardware and more recently as a stereo outlet. The brick addition (c. 1919) has served as an office for the City Deputy of Public Works and as a doctor's office. These uses reflect the changing landscape of one of the core blocks of downtown Penticton.

The hotel is also important because it is a reminder of the original broad dimensions of Main Street before 1911.

SOURCE: City of Penticton Civic File

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Palace Hotel include its:
-large two-storey, wood-frame structure
-original features including its: board cladding, false front, double hung windows and flagpole

Recognition

Jurisdiction

British Columbia

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (BC)

Recognition Statute

Local Government Act, s.954

Recognition Type

Community Heritage Register

Recognition Date

2007/04/16

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

1902/01/01 to 1902/01/01

Theme - Category and Type

Developing Economies
Trade and Commerce
Peopling the Land
Settlement

Function - Category and Type

Current

Historic

Commerce / Commercial Services
Hotel, Motel or Inn
Commerce / Commercial Services
Shop or Wholesale Establishment

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

Tom Hudon

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

City of Penticton Civic File

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

DiQv-70

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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