Fencing will be going up around one of the South Okanagan’s most iconic and beloved buildings.
The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen is putting up the fencing around the historic Kaleden Hotel to limit public access because the last assessment indicated there is a high risk of falling pieces.
According to RDOS director for Kaleden Subrina Monteith, the historical site built in 1911 is no longer structurally sound and the estimated cost to stabilize it has a price tag of around $2 million.
Monteith adds that since 2018, they’ve invested in prevention maintenance to ensure the building remains as structurally sound as possible despite its age.
Work last summer saw geomatics and geotechnical crews on-site to perform various tasks including structural assessments.
The iconic roofless building is a popular site for wedding photos and also a common stop for tourists. The hotel is also steeped in Kaleden’s history and was one of the first built in the area. It is located at Second Street and Ponderosa Avenue.
There had been a group of Kaleden residents working as a subcommittee of Kaleden Parks and Recreation to create a vision for the restoration of the structure. They have created rendering photos that showcase how the restoration work could be done and how it could look once that is complete.
But it’s the high cost and who would pay for it that has everyone concerned, she said.
There will be a meeting at the Kaleden Community Hall on April 21 at 2 p.m. to discuss the next steps.
“I want to thank the dedicated community members for having the passion to bring the project to this point, now it’s up to the community to decide what happens with the structure,” said Monteith on Facebook.
Kaleden Hotel History
The Kaleden Hotel is a heritage-listed property, which was first constructed in 1911. It closed due to the First World War a few years later. The building sat idle until the late 1930s when the hotel was sold and stripped of a significant portion of its construction materials and furnishings. The RDOS bought the property in 1979 to develop the Kaleden Hotel Park. The park features a connection to the Kettle Valley Rail Trail and is in proximity to lake access. (information courtesy of RDOS)