Description of Historic Place

The Plaza Hotel is a five-storey, stucco-clad, Spanish Colonial Revival-style hotel situated on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and Victoria Street in Kamloops. It is a prominent landmark in the downtown core.

Heritage Value

The Plaza Hotel, built in 1928, is significant for its association with the Kamloops Boards of Trade, which promoted Kamloops as a tourist destination during the 1920s. The Plaza, which was intended to be the finest hotel in British Columbia’s interior, was seen as an essential city amenity that would appeal to the new influx of tourists travelling by motorcar. The Plaza remained popular, and by 1948 a 44-room expansion was underway. The Plaza remains in use today as one of the major hotels in the downtown area.

The Plaza Hotel is also valued as a superior example of Spanish Colonial Revival design by architect Ernest T. Brown (1876-1950), an English architect who had previously designed the Kamloops Lodge 44 of the Benevolent Order of the Elks in a similar style.

The Plaza is further valued as a testament to the abilities of local builders and craftsmen, and to the high quality materials that were available in Kamloops at the time. The contractors, Johnston & Company, led by William Henry Johnston (1864-1931), owned the Kamloops Brickyards and were among the leading contractors in the city.

Source: City of Kamloops Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key characteristics that define the heritage character of the Plaza Hotel include its:
- location at the southeast corner of Victoria Street and Fourth Avenue in downtown Kamloops
- commercial form, scale and massing, as expressed by its five-storey height, rooftop patio, rectangular plan and projecting canopies
- construction materials, such as the rock-dash stucco on the exterior walls, metal pantile canopies and wrought-iron work, and wood construction, including wooden brackets
- Spanish Colonial Revival features, such as round arches at the ground floor and upper level, top-floor corner balconies with French doors with semi-circular transoms, and outdoor rooftop patio with open round arches
- early neon ‘Plaza Hotel’ sign
- windows, such as original storefronts at ground level and eight-over-one double-hung wooden-sash windows
- interior features, such as lobby with oak floors, dining room, original room configuration, open staircase with original balustrades and newel posts, plaster mouldings, and wooden trim
- 1948 addition, including rock-dash stucco exterior walls, windows including six-over-one double-hung wooden-sash windows in single and double assembly, and interior features including original room configurations
- continuous use as a hotel