Description of Historic Place

The historic place is a two-storey brick commercial building constructed around 1913 at 1560 Water Street, mid-way between Bernard Avenue and Leon Avenue in Kelowna's Downtown area.

Heritage Value

The building at 1560 Water Street has heritage value for having accommodated a range of commercial enterprises since the early 1910s, several of which focused on agricultural activities. It also has value for being representative of downtown commercial buildings in the era preceding World War I.

The exact date of construction is uncertain, but it was before 1914, as it appears on a 1914 fire insurance map, and probably after 1912, since Harry Raymer is listed as owner of the lot from 1906 through 1912, but no improvements are noted. In 1914 the building was described as a warehouse, with dry goods storage in the second-storey rear, presumably for Thomas Lawson's store, which was located in the adjacent Raymer Block on Bernard Avenue.

In 1919, the building was leased by S.T. Elliott for use as an implement store. Simon ('Sam') Tackett Elliott started out in the blacksmith business, first at Benvoulin and later in downtown Kelowna. Elliott was active in the Kelowna community. He was a large man, the stereotypical 'blacksmith' type, and anchored the Kelowna tug-of-war team. He was widely involved in other local enterprises and in roadbuilding. As transport shifted from horses to automobiles, Elliott shifted from shoeing horses to selling horsepower, running the first auto dealership in Kelowna (which sold McLaughlin and Tudhope cars).

The building continued its use as an agricultural machinery store until the 1950s, accommodating the Kelowna Tractor and Sprayer Company in 1956. For four decades it housed significant agricultural services, the principal industry of the area during Kelowna's early formative years.

In recent years the building served as office space for a financial services company. It was recently renovated for use as the Fresco's, an up-scale downtown restaurant, reflecting the increasing number of restaurants, entertainment, and service facilities in the western portion of downtown Kelowna. The building has undergone significant upgrading to accommodate the present use, altering the Water Street facade while retaining its heritage character. The building has value as a good example of sensitive design in the adaptive reuse of a heritage structure in the community.

Source: City of Kelowna Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of 1560 Water Street include:
- good, representative example of brick two-storey commercial building from the years preceding World War I
- symmetrical facade, with a central recessed entrance flanked by symmetrical (new) commercial windows on the ground floor
- straight second-floor window heads with vertical bricks and prominent projecting keystones
- projecting pilaster-like strips at the corners of the front elevation
- local red and buff brick
- corbelled brick below the parapet