The oldest public building in Kamloops is opening again after a long hiatus and $1.1 million of restoration and upgrades following a suspicious fire two years ago.

St. Andrew’s on the Square — located at 159 Seymour Street in downtown Kamloops — is a beloved heritage building used for special celebrations like weddings and funerals.

It’s an iconic building in the city’s downtown and a popular subject of photography with its unique, historical features and long history.

iN PHOTOS: A peek inside oldest public building in Kamloops after $1.1M restoration | iNFOnews.ca — St. Andrew’s on the Square in Kamloops was restored after a fire in 2024. SUBMITTED/Jennifer Jones

It was first built as a Presbyterian Church in 1887 out of lumber from James McIntosh’s Shuswap Milling Co. just after the stretch of the Canadian Pacific Railway going through Kamloops was constructed, according to the city.

The church closed and was purchased by a Pentecostal group in 1942.

A few years later Reverend Phil Gaglardi and his wife became pastors there and renamed it Cavalry Temple.

In the early 1990s, the church was bought by the city with its reconstruction by the Kamloops Heritage society beginning in 1997, and has since been used as an event space.

On May 2, 2024, the church caught on fire and sustained fire, smoke and water damage.

The city’s Capital Projects team worked with Reimagine Architects to design the restoration plan that included modernized technology, improving building security and enhancing heritage characteristics.

Interior work included painting, millwork, flooring, lighting and fixtures. Exterior work included improvements to an accessibility ramp and the stained-glass windows were cleaned and restored. There were also technological upgrades for events and live-streaming.

Local school teacher Jennifer Jones toured the church at an exclusive opening event, May 14, alongside members of the community organizations who worked on the project. She previously completed a contract at the museum where one of her duties was to research the history of the building.

“I was worried it would have changed so much with the fixing up but I had the opposite reaction, it was spectacular,” she said. “This is a little gem that is thankfully restored.

“When you set foot in it today, you get that sense you’re taking a step way back into our history, from the beautiful archival photos to the absolutely gorgeous wallpaper all the while addressing some of the things that needed updating as far as using it as an event space in our new age of technology.”

The venue features the original historic pews, archival photographs from the Kamloops Museum and Archives, period lighting and heritage-inspired finishes.

“The many, many people it must have taken to do this project really did it in such a way that honours the building and the history it holds,” Jones said.

While some wedding photographs that used to line the venue’s walls were destroyed by water, a new digital photo display will show wedding moments from past and future celebrations.

Anyone wanting to contribute their wedding photos taken at the venue can email them to standrewsweddingphotos@kamloops.ca for a chance to have them displayed digitally.

The Kamloops Museum and Archives is offering free public tours on Saturday, May 23 with a sign-up sheet available at the Museum booth at the Farmers’ Market.

The facility will be available for event bookings starting on June 1. Email facilities@kamloops.ca or call 250 828 3319.

For more information, go here.