At the corner of the main desk one will find the centre's guest book. In the book one will find entries from around the world, testifying to Nelson's status as a tourist destination and attraction. The first page was begun on May 26, 2013. If one were to examine that page closely they would find that BK-Hunters signed the book four days later, on May 30, 2013. Don't forget to sign the book when you visit!
The visitor centre's new digs are in Nelson's old CPR station, built in 1900 and renovated over the past three years. The visitor centre, with an adjoining coffee house, occupies about half of the newly renovated station; the other half will be occupied by various businesses when interior renovations are complete. Larger than their original premises, the centre houses all the information brochures, booklets and maps one would expect to encounter. The centre is staffed by the same helpful and friendly group we have come to know in the old centre.
In the middle of the visitor centre is a model of the station and surrounding railroad facilities as they would have been in the 1950s. Beautifully restored with lots of wood and exposed posts and beams, the centre even retains the old wide board flooring style from the station, though probably only replicated, not original. Nelson now has a visitor centre they can truly be proud of. Below is a bit of the story of the station.
Completed in 1900, in 1910 it was doubled in size to house the headquarters of the B.C. Lake and River Service, as well as railroad operations. The addition made this a large station, reflecting Nelson's status at that time as a major shipping and transportation hub for the Kootenay region.
The CPR tracks arrived in Nelson in 1891 and in that year the first station was built, at this location. When, in the late 1890s, Nelson was designated the Kootenay Region Headquarters for the CPR, this station was built to house increased office space and to provide better freight and passenger handling capabilities. Ostensibly, it was opened January 1st, 1900.
In the mid 1950s, the paddle wheelers having become obsolete, the B.C. Lake and River Service was dissolved by the CPR, leaving that half of the building empty. In 1987, with a restructuring of CPR divisional boundaries, the divisional headquarters were moved to Cranbrook, leaving the building empty, as passenger service had already been terminated by that time. Fortunately, it was not many years later that it was designated a
Historic Railway Station, this taking place in 1992.
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