Name/Title
Union Club Front FaçadeEntry/Object ID
2001.02.03Description
Painting
This image depicts the Union Club front façade on Gordon Street at Humboldt. Founded in 1879, The Union Club of British Columbia is a landmark institution in the heart of downtown Victoria., B.C., considered the foremost business, social and cultural club in the city. This building is the third clubhouse venue.Artwork Details
Medium
Watercolour on paperSubject Place
Region
Pacific NorthwestContinent
North AmericaContext
This Union Club building was recognized as nationally significant in 1995 by the joint federal, provincial and territorial administered registry, Canada’s Historic Places. And in 2017, The Union Club of British Columbia was declared a National Historic Site by the Government of Canada. The Union Club, completed in 1913, earned the prestigious status for its important early history and outstanding architecture of Beaux-Arts Italian Renaissance Revival Style.
Designed by noted San Francisco architect Loring P. Rixford (1870-1946), plans for the building were drawn up with the help of prominent Victoria architect Francis Mawson Rattenbury (1867-1935). Of note, in addition to the building's elegant design, is it's juxtaposition with The Empress Hotel (1908), a nationally significant Château-style hotel, built for the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Belmont Building (1912), significant for its early use of concrete frame construction and as a gatepost to Victoria's commercial core. Together these buildings form a backdrop of historic places in the northeast corner of the Inner Harbour, and mark the entrance to Victoria's Old Town District.
In 2017, an extensive $4 million five-year building renovation project was completed, including exterior restoration. The restoration of the exterior terracotta was documented and the photographs now form part of the Club's collection. See 2018.06.01 - 2018.06.15.Made/Created
Date made
n.d.Time Period
21st CenturyAcquisition
Acquisition Method
Legacy collection - detail unknown