Description of Historic Place

The Bellevue Hotel is a substantial, flat-roofed frame building located on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Washington Street, marking the northern limits of the downtown commercial area of Rossland, British Columbia. Viewed from the north, it has a two-storey appearance with no visible basement, but from the south and west, due to the steeply sloping lots, the Bellevue Hotel appears to have more than three full floors. The main entrance is on the north side and there are exterior covered stairs leading up to an entrance on the west side of the building.

Heritage Value

The Bellevue Hotel is valued as the only hotel built in Rossland during the boom years of the gold mining era that is still operating as a hotel today. In the late 1890's, hotels were the most common type of building in the downtown, and there were over forty of them in the City.

The Bellevue Hotel is valued as a visual reminder of the significant role played by all the hotels in the initial development of the community, as collectively they offered beds, places to eat and always a bar-room for drinking and socializing. The Bellevue Hotel has changed ownership and names over the years. For decades it was called the Orwell and most recently it has been known as The Flying Steam Shovel. Today, a retail shop operates from the southwest corner of the lowest floor.

The Bellevue Hotel is representative of the 'finer' hotels in early Rossland, and its original structure provides the context for what was referred to as 'quality services, fittings and furnishings.' The Bellevue Hotel met the Fire Escape Regulations, having several staircases between the floors, and all the rooms had a window for 'fresh air.' In 1897 a dancing pavilion adjoined the Bellevue Hotel, 'offering a place of entertainment and recreation for guests of the house and others seeking an evening's amusement.'

Source: City of Rossland

Character-Defining Elements

Key character-defining elements of the Bellevue Hotel include:

- Location atop the Washington Street hill
- Original size and shape of the building
- The original repeating pattern, size and placement of windows on the top floor
- Signage identifying the building as a hotel
- A plaque by the entrance identifying the hotel as a significant Rossland heritage building