Kamloops Heritage Register - City of Kamloops

CITY OF KAMLOOPS HERITAGE REGISTER 2007-2008
THE McINTOSH MEMORIAL
COLUMBIA STREET WEST
Description of Historic Place
The McIntosh Memorial is a one-storey Period Revival pavilion, featuring heavy timber posts,
half-timbering and a high-pitched shingle roof. It is situated at the Kamloops Lookout, on a
steeply sloping landscaped site on Columbia Street West, with expansive views of Kamloops.
Heritage Value
The McIntosh Memorial, built in 1932, is significant for its associations with James McIntosh
(1843-1901), one of Kamloops’s most influential pioneers. Born in Ottawa, McIntosh came to
Kamloops in 1865 where he was employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company, and established
himself by helping to build the first paddlewheeler that serviced the Thompson waterways. In
1868, with partner William Fortune, he pre-empted land at Tranquille, and proceeded to build
and operate a flour mill and sawmill. A few years later in 1878, McIntosh embarked upon
another business venture with John Andrew Mara (1840-1920), named the Shuswap Milling
Company, which consisted of a grist mill and sawmill. His business ventures continued to
flourish when McIntosh completed the first waterworks in Kamloops in 1887, and later installed
the first light system in the town. In addition, McIntosh was highly involved in the Kamloops
community, serving as the first magistrate, an alderman, first president of the Board of Trade and
chairman of the board of the Royal Inland Hospital. His efforts, both social and economic, led
him to become known as the ‘King of Kamloops.’ Commissioned by the Rotary Club to
commemorate McIntosh’s community efforts, this memorial was originally situated on the west
end of the Nicola Wagon Road, where it was unveiled in a ceremony on September 15, 1932. In
1989, the McIntosh Memorial was moved to its current location on Columbia Street West.
The McIntosh Memorial is further valued as an example of the work of prominent Kamloops
architect Iain R. Morrison (1906-1954). Born in Kent, England, Morrison studied architecture at
St. Andrew’s College in Fifeshire, Scotland, and emigrated to Canada in 1926. After working for
several larger firms in Vancouver, he opened an office in Kamloops in 1932, where he worked
until his death at the age of forty-eight. The decorative detail of the McIntosh Memorial
expresses an interest in traditional British stylistic elements, and is a noteworthy example of the
romantic traditionalism popular between the First and Second World Wars.
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the McIntosh Memorial include its:
- prominent location at a public lookout
- form, scale and massing as expressed by its one-storey height, rectangular plan, central
washroom core, central roof vent and steeply-pitched gabled roof
- wood-frame construction, with heavy timber posts and arched brackets made of local spruce,
and cedar shingle roof
- elements of the Period Revival influence as expressed in traditional details such as halftimbering,
flared roof edges and waney-edged boards in the gable peaks
Donald Luxton & Associates Inc.: 2008
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