Description du lieu patrimonial

The Newcastle Island Pavilion and Bathhouse are part of a former Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Steamship resort established in the 1930s on Newcastle Island, across the harbour from Nanaimo, British Columbia. The structures are located among the trees on opposite sides of an open lawn area at the south end of the island. The Pavilion is a two-storey broad gable-roofed building with a wrap-around open verandah. The Bathhouse is a one-storey, rectangular, gable-roofed structure with a front verandah. It is situated near the beach on a partially wooded rise with a stone retaining wall below.

Valeur patrimoniale

The Newcastle Island Pavilion and Bathhouse are significant for their historical, recreational and aesthetic values, particularly for their relationship to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) which owned and operated the Princess Ships of the British Columbia Coast Steamship Service, and for the purpose-built nature of these structures designed specifically for the Newcastle Island resort.

Built in 1930-31, the Newcastle Island resort venture was the only CPR resort on the West Coast. The resort was a competitive response to the rival and highly successful Union Steamship Company resort on Bowen Island, and was linked with the Canadian Pacific Railway resorts and hotels in the Rocky Mountains. As part of the Newcastle Island venture, the CPR built picnic shelters, a bathhouse, soccer field, wading pool, and an outdoor games area with horseshoe pitches. At the north end of the island they introduced muskrats and beavers to Mallard Lake for tourists to watch.

The site is historically important as a significant recreational destination for citizens from Nanaimo and Vancouver, particularly for employees attending company picnics via the CPR Steamships that brought them here for summer weekends. The resort operated until 1941-42 when WWII interrupted; it reopened after the war but was not a financial success. The CPR sold Newcastle Island to the City of Nanaimo in 1955, and in 1960 the island became a provincial park.

The Newcastle Island Pavilion is valued as the only pavilion of its kind that has survived from the island resort era between the two world wars. It was restored with the help of local volunteers in 1984 and can still be seen and enjoyed on the island today. The cottage-like feel, rectangular plans and open verandahs of the Bathhouse and Pavilion suggest the ease and relaxation of resort life.

Typical of most CPR resort hotels and buildings, the Pavilion and Bathhouse are strategically located. They stand near a protected bay with views to an exposed sandstone shoreline and sandy gravel beaches easily accessed by water, an important consideration before extensive road networks made much of the province accessible. The setting of the Pavilion is the surrounding upland forest which contains Douglas fir, arbutus, Garry oak, and Pacific dogwood trees and other plant communities representative of the dry Gulf Islands landscape.

The buildings have strong connections to the local Nanaimo community. The Newcastle Island Pavilion Society fund-raised and restored the Pavilion in 1984, and also raised funds to reconstruct the pulp stone cutter in the nearby quarry. The Nanaimo Ballroom Dance Society has hosted Sunday afternoon dances at the Pavilion as a public service since 1999 and also holds an annual dance camp. The Snuneymuxw First Nation, descendants of the first inhabitants, are now the contracted park operators.

The Pavilion, Bathhouse, and their environs have high recreational values through their ongoing use by social, school, and recreational groups and clubs for annual picnics, camp-outs, retreats and outdoor education.

Source: Ministry of Environment, BC Parks

Éléments caractéristiques

Key character-defining elements of the Newcastle Island Pavilion and Bathhouse include:

Site and Setting:
-grassy open lawn between buildings
-resort-related amenities including horseshoe pitch and checkerboard
-benches and interpretive features

Pavilion:
-siting with aspect to the beach and ocean
-rectangular massing, structure raised above grade
-wood frame structure 40'x80'
-wrap-around verandah with shed roof and wooden railing
-vertical board and batten cladding
-wood windows, some with hinged covers
-traditional red and white paint scheme
-sprung floor

Bathhouse:
-siting adjacent to the beach, with stone retaining wall
-horizontal massing
-front gable roof with small verandah
-shuttered windows, four on each facade