B.C. Telephone Exchange Building

The B.C. Telephone Exchange Building is a vernacular Edwardian style building located in the downtown core. The historic place is confined to the building footprint.

The B.C.Telephone Exchange Building is a very good example of a vernacular Edwardian style commercial building. The taller building, purchased by B.C. Telephone in 1908, was built around 1900 as a lodge for the Knights of Pythias and featured classical columns and pediments. In 1926, B.C. Telephone purchased the smaller adjacent building and undertook an extensive renovation to visually unify the two buildings. They were later joined with an addition that now forms the main entry.

The B.C. Telephone Exchange Building is significant as an early example of the adaptive reuse of buildings to suit corporate needs. The facade redevelopment modernized the B.C.Telephone Building and projected a more utilitarian, progressive image, appropriate for a service provider, than the original elaborate facade.

The B.C. Telephone Exchange Building housed the local telephone exchange for almost 60 years and is significant because of its long association with a key community service.

Source: City of Nanaimo, Development Services Department, file #6800-20-H01-02/70-76 Bastion Street

Character-defining elements of the B.C. Telephone Exchange Building include:

-All of the elements of the vernacular Edwardian style as expressed in the brick construction, overall simple, restrained appearance and cornice.

-The downtown location within a grouping of historic buildings.