Photos were taken from the boulevard in the centre of Vernon Street, looking southeast. The original was taken about 1959 or 1960.
The present New Grand Hotel was built in three sections at three different times, the first completed in 1913. For many years the hotel was known as the Lord Nelson Hotel, but with an eye to history it reassumed its original name during the most recent renovations in the 1990s.
From the
Nelson Heritage Register, 2011, number 63, page 100:
Description
The New Grand Hotel is a three-part, squarely massed structure with a centre four-storey tower and two flanking two-storey wings on Vernon
Street in the downtown area of Nelson, B.C.
Value
The New Grand Hotel is important for its aesthetics, as a longstanding local landmark and gathering place, and for its history as part of high-end and early accommodations in the region.
Originally constructed as a wooden building, the mix of time frames and styles of the present hotel include the center 1914 block, a squarely massed, four-storey symmetrical brick structure, constructed
with the modern conveniences of the time including hot and cold water, radiators and telephone. A new addition in 1939 reflects the rounded corners and flat roof of the Moderne style, while the southern 1959 addition is constructed of reinforced concrete.
From the 1960s to the 1990s, the hotel was known as the Lord Nelson Hotel, but the original name was returned during recent renovations. Despite the additions and renovations, the New Grand Hotel remains a local landmark and a symbol of Nelson’s reputation for high-end accommodation at the turn of the century.