Description of Historic Place

The Ranger's Shoes Building is a one-storey, wooden, false-front structure located on the major thoroughfare of one of Nanaimo's oldest neighbourhoods, adjacent to the city centre. The historic place is confined to the building footprint.

Heritage Value

Built about 1920, the Ranger's Shoes Building is an excellent example of a small, very simple, vernacular Boomtown or False-Front style commercial structure. The false front facade increased the apparent size of the building and provided ample space for a large painted sign while the windows at the ground level provided a showcase for goods display. Over the years changes have been made to the building roofs, storefronts, and windows. Although the front facade has been stuccoed, the building's rear and side are fundamentally unchanged and it continues to be used for commercial purposes.

The building is also significant for its contemporary function as an outdoor art gallery. Lined with framed paintings, the exterior east wall of the building, adjacent to a narrow alley, has been used to showcase local art since the mid-1990s.

The building forms part of the Fitzwilliam Street commercial building grouping and is a prominent part of the historic Fitzwilliam Street streetscape.

Source: City of Nanaimo, Development Services Department

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of Ranger's Shoes Building include:
-all of the elements of a small-scale, Boomtown commercial building, as expressed in the simple form and mass, storefront windows, boomtown false front, and the original wood siding on the side and rear walls.
-the building's location on the neighbourhood's main commercial street within a large grouping of similarly scaled historic buildings.
-the ongoing use of the eastern exterior wall as exhibition space.
-the building's continued use for commercial purposes.