The built history of Kamloops as we know it today dates back to 1890, shortly before official incorporation in 1893. Over 130 years later, much of this built landscape remains as seen in the residential, commercial and civic architecture primarily within the Downtown Kamloops neighbourhood.
The Community
A Neighbourhood Through History
The heritage of Kamloops’ architecture is of significant importance, and represented by several organizations within the city, including:
Within the hyper-local focus of the Downtown Kamloops neighbourhood, each of these entities have contributed towards the registration and promotion of heritage resources (residential buildings, cemeteries, and landscapes to monuments and transportation stock).
Catalogues such as the Heritage Home Registrar, the Heritage Property Tour, and Heritage Walking Tour Brochure all contribute to the preservation and demonstration of these heritage sites.
The Opportunity
Bringing Past To Present
While ample resources exist that would allow locals and tourists alike to explore and learn more about heritage destinations, it’s the self-relying aspect of these resources that may deter interest and participation within this community.
Downtown Kamloops presents a wealth of experiential opportunities outside the scope of heritage sites, with lively parks, shopping boutiques, food, drink, museums and cultural destinations. But the addition of a guided experience, specifically related to the historic aspect of the community, provides an additional anchor point for guests to further embed themselves within the Downtown Kamloops community.
This proposed guided experience, a guided walking tour of Downtown Kamloops’ many heritage sites, would bridge the past to the present, provide value to guests, and benefit stakeholders in the community.
The Experience
Creating A Heritage Building Walking Tour
The Heritage Building Walking Tour will be a guided expedition, featuring residential, commercial and civic sites that have achieved official heritage status. Throughout the tour, guests will be brought to three to five heritage buildings within Downtown Kamloops and educated on neighbourhood history, architectural practices of the built period, building history (i.e. construction and occupancy), as well as modern building use
In keeping with the ideologies of small tourism, the following constraints will be considered for the walking tour, including:
- A limit of 10 guests per tour to encourage open dialogue, participation and minimal impact to areas visited.
- Tours conducted by local volunteers with connection to tour material (i.e. heritage building owners, members of Heritage Commission, or those interested and educated on the topic of local heritage buildings).
- Fixed rate admission that will contribute to tour operation costs and proceeds to the Heritage Commission.
While Downtown Kamloops has an abundance of heritage buildings, the tour will rotate through a selection of three to five buildings seasonally, both to minimize impact to properties and provide variety for repeat guests. Tours will take place every second Saturday in the spring, summer and fall months.
Proposed Tour Stops
Tour stops will be selected from the City of Kamloops Heritage Property Tour index, including but not limited to:
- Inland Cigar Factory
- Old Bank of Commerce
- Houses of St. Paul St West
- Plaza Hotel
- Freemont Block
- Houses of Nicola St (1000-2000 block)
Interactive Component
The Heritage Building Walk Tour will also feature an interactive scavenger hunt for guests to partake in for the duration of their tour. The premise of the hunt is to identify and capture aspects of heritage buildings through smartphone photography, including:
- Plaques and engravings
- Architectural building practices within the built landscape
- Additional heritage buildings adjacent to tour destinations
Materials can be uploaded and tagged with a corresponding hashtag. These materials can then be collected and used by archivists, building owners and other stakeholders to observe current conditions of buildings and compile modern data for future use. This interaction between guests and buildings creates a collective appreciation and awareness for Kamloops’ most significant structures, as well as awareness for heritage buildings beyond the community.
The Benefit
Strengthening A Community
There are several direct benefits of a small tourism enterprise like a guided walking tour of local heritage buildings.
Commerce: Throughout the tour, guests will be made aware of commercial locations tied to Kamloops history, and encouraged to patron at local shops, restaurants, galleries and more.
Preservation: Through admission proceeds and by contributing photographs within the interactive component of the tour, guest participation is making direct contributions to the preservation of these heritage sites.
Education: By taking the tour, guests will have an opportunity to learn more about built history, not just in Kamloops but in all communities they come to visit, inspiring further participation in similar small tourism initiatives across the world.
Interest: Tour guests have an opportunity to generate further interest in both the experience and the destination of Downtown Kamloops, encouraging future guests or locals to take the tour themselves, spend more time in the neighbourhood and embed themselves in local history.