Description of Historic Place

The Kettle Valley Railway Station is a two storey 1941 structure with a steeply pitched chalet style roof and two gabled bays at each end, the easterly one having been added in 1945. It includes a single story warehouse addition on the west side, built in 1965.

Heritage Value

The Kettle Valley Railway Station is valued for its association with the transition of railway passenger business from the Penticton waterfront to the south Penticton industrial area in the 1930s and 1940s.

It is further valued as a symbol of the role of Penticton as an important division point on the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) Division of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), which linked the mines and smelters of the Kootenays to the coast and provided an alternative passenger service to the CPR main line. The building is also symbolic of the evolution of this area as the industrial centre of the south Okanagan, having been significantly expanded to meet demands of growth in railway traffic.

The building is also valued for its Tudor Revival style architecture, also known as "Hunt Club".

The station's survival as a public building is a reflection of its ongoing social significance as a gathering place. The building is also valued as a symbol of Penticton's interest in preserving heritage character. The neighbourhood is the only one in the city to have architectural guidelines requiring that new buildings reflect the form and character of the railway station.

Source: City of Penticton Civic File for: 216 Hastings Avenue

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Kettle Valley Railway Station include:
- the massing of the building, reflective of the architectural style used by railway companies
- the physical layout of the building, including its large freight doors for loading and unloading goods, and its division offices on the second floor
- remnants of the original chalet style design in the centre section, including the steep pitched roof with curved overhang and prominent brackets
- half-timbering in the gable ends
- multi-light windows in the upper storey
- location adjacent to the main KVR rail line
- proximity to historic KVR roundhouse, stores buildings, yard and workshops
- 1945 additions in a style compatible with the original