Description of Historic Place

The Star Theatre building is a two-storey, flat-roofed, wood framed commercial building with two storefronts at street level dating to 1908. It is part of a grouping of five early commercial buildings located on the eastern side of Washington Street between Columbia Avenue and First Avenue in the historic downtown of Rossland, BC.

Heritage Value

The Star Theatre building is an integral part of Rossland's oldest intact commercial street front. With its four contiguous neighbours to the south, it makes up the only surviving group of commercial buildings to survive fire in Rossland's downtown. Prior to 1929, fire decimated all other contemporary buildings of this era.

Constructed in 1908 on the site of the former Beverly & Maloney Blacksmith Shop, this modest wood framed building holds significant heritage value. The Star Theatre operated by Samuel Hackney from 1908 to 1925, brought Rossland "moving pictures". From 1925 to 1975, it housed a dry goods store, church, grocery store, building supply store, and retail and professional offices. Together with the other buildings to the south in this historic grouping, this place is evidence of Rossland's economic continuum since its earliest days as a city.

In 1970, Gustav and Beatrice Rosner purchased the building and divided the bottom floor into two storefronts and added apartments to the upper floor. In 1975, Butch Boutry opened a ski shop in the southern storefront and Dr. D. O'Donaughy opened a dental practice on the northern storefront.

Boutry, a local skiing champion was a member and later head coach of the Canadian National Ski Team, the 1963 Western Canadian Men's Ski Champion, and coach of the Canadian Disabled Ski Team for three Paralympic Games in the 1980s. Today, the Butch Boutry Ski shop occupies the entire storefront. The continued use as a ski shop is evidence of Rossland's strong ski culture, and its connections to Red Mountain Resort.

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the character of the historic site include its:

- Commercial use of this lot since c. 1898, and of this building since 1908
- Situation on its lot, and its relationship to the sidewalk, street, and back alley
- Physical relationship to the other buildings within this historic grouping
- Two-storey massing, with flat roof, and rectilinear facade
- Wood-frame construction
- Mixed use, with storefronts at street level and residential units in upper floor
- Association with the Butch Boutry Ski Shop