Effort underway to save a historic packinghouse in Lake Country

Long-time Oyama resident and orchardist Alan Gatzke is lobbying to make the last remaining packing house in the area into a community space.

The 70-year-old building at 15660 Oyama Road was once a bustling apple packinghouse owned by the Vernon Fruit Union.

“That packinghouse was central to the culture here in Oyama for such a long time,” Gatzke said. “There were living accommodations within the building and a dozen cabins and duplexes on the backside. Many of the transient labour force there became permanent local residents.  

“The last resident moved out of the suites upstairs in 1980. It hasn’t played a big role in the community since.”

Gatzke was born and raised in Oyama area of Lake Country. He’s a former president of the community club, a former district councillor and is still involved with regional district economic development.

The future use of the historic packinghouse is part of the District of Lake Country’s 2026 Official Community Plan, and Gatzke wants to see it used for something the community can benefit from.

The wooden building is three storeys high with roughly 12,000 square feet per floor. He said it is structurally sound, has a new roof and has had a recent upgrade to its fire safety system.

It’s also a historical symbol of a long era of packinghouses in the region.

In the early 1900s, irrigation in Lake Country began to transform it from ranches into orchards, and apple packing became a big business, according to Digital Museums Canada.

Boxes of freshly picked apples were put on a bench and the packer selected them one at a time, wrapping each in paper and putting them into boxes according to their size and grade.

Orchards grew and cooperative packinghouses were formed, while more new ones sprung up across the Okanagan.

The wives and daughters of the growers worked picking and packing, but were not compensated. They were known as the Applebox Belles.

When the First World War took away the men there was a labour shortage, and the belles stepped into packing lines, receiving a lower rate of pay than the men. By the time the war was over, women were established on the packing lines.

Through the challenges of the Great Depression and the Second World War, women continued working on the packinghouse lines, eventually taking over supervisory positions as men went away to war again.

During the late 1930s until 1953, women took part in apple packing competitions, with one going to compete in England where she won the title of Apple Queen of the British Empire.

“The history of the packinghouses is part of our community,” Gatzke said. “There were once five packinghouses in Oyama. Two burned down and two were disassembled. This one is the last one standing.”

The remaining packinghouse ceased to be used for apple packing in 1980 and continued as a storage facility and the place where bins and pallets were fixed.

It was sold to a private owner almost a decade ago and that company sold it to Atlantis Marine that’s currently occupying a small portion of the building under a temporary use permit.

Gatzke has talked to the owner of Atlantis Marine on several occasions.

“Having a boat dealership in it doesn’t contribute to the community,” Gatzke said. “A few people in Oyama store boats there, but most are Albertans that come looking for a place to park it.”

This fall, Gatzke, along with the dealership owner and a city councillor, discussed the fate of packinghouse building. A public tour of the building was organized and roughly 50 community members showed up.

Gatzke is currently combing through emails and social media comments from members of the public who shared their ideas for the space including a restaurant, daycare, a dance hall, public market and teen hangout space.

“My job right now is to transfer comments onto email and send them to (the Atlantis Marine owner) to review,” he said. “We’ll pick up the ball and hopefully move toward having the Official Community Plan designate some community integration.”

Gatzke said he’s excited what the future might look like for the old packinghouse.

Go here for more information, check out the Oyama packinghouse Facebook page here.