Description of Historic Place

This is a two-storey brick commercial structure built around 1914 at 1570 Water Street, mid-way between Bernard Avenue and Leon Avenue.

Heritage Value

The building at 1570 Water Street is significant because of its former close association with the Chinese-Canadian community in Kelowna, and for its continuous role as a restaurant in downtown Kelowna.

The uses of the building illustrate the social situation in which most members of Kelowna's Chinese community lived. It was built between 1910 and 1914, appearing on a 1914 fire insurance map as a restaurant with boarding rooms upstairs. In 1925 the restaurant operated as the L.D. Cafe, owned by Charlie Hong. Four years later the front part of the building was considerably expanded, with the owners at that time identified as C. Hong and Long Foo.

The business was one of many serving Kelowna's large Chinese community. In 1930 there were about 500 Chinese people in Kelowna. There was little mixing between the Chinese and the rest of the community. Most of Kelowna's, and British Columbia's, Chinese were male 'married bachelors,' unable to afford the large head tax required to bring in their wives and families, as a consequence of Canadian laws that became increasing restrictive to Chinese immigration. The Chinese labour bosses contracted these men to local farmers and other employers, and also operated rooming houses like this one where they quartered the men over the winter, building up debts which ensured their control over the workers. The men took their meals at local restaurants such as this.

As the Chinese population gradually dwindled as a result of immigration restrictions, a low birth rate, and presumed migration to Vancouver and other centres, the population and the size of Kelowna's Chinatown shrank. The restaurant was taken over by non-Chinese operators, and in 1945 its name was changed to Lorrie's Cafe. In 1949, Wendelyn and Tillie Silbernagel acquired the business and renamed it Tillie's Grill. It became the Baron Cafe in 1971, then in 1977 Talos Greek Restaurant, the changes reflecting new immigration patterns.

Following a recent renovation, the building is now used as a portion of The Keg Restaurant, along with the adjacent Courier Building. This and previous alterations have changed the appearance of the building considerably, particularly on the ground floor where a gabled entrance roof and new windows have been added. However, the overall original form is still evident. The building has been a restaurant continuously since its start, with shifts in ownership and style clearly reflecting the changes to Kelowna and its population.

Source: City of Kelowna Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of 1570 Water Street include its:
- two-storey form representative of commercial buildings of the period
- brick walls
- raised central parapet with recess for name and number
- four regularly-spaced second-floor windows
- ground floor recessed entrance
- decorative moulding between the first and second floors