The Town of Oliver will be holding a public hearing over Zoom on March 22 on designating its municipal hall as a heritage building.

The town office building once housed the South Okanagan Lands Project, during the construction of the local irrigation canal known as ‘the Ditch.’

The building is one of the oldest still standing in Oliver, having been built in 1921, as a craftsman-style Edwardian home. The designation would only apply to the building itself, and would not affect the Cenotaph, the statue of town found John Oliver, rose garden or the museum and archive building.

The designation would not affect the municipal use of the building, the history of which is being considered part of the heritage proposal.

Completed in the early spring of 1921, it was the first public building constructed after the survey for a new townsite was completed in late 1920.

The offices of the lads project were important to the overall development of the South Okanagan and highlight the building’s role at the centre of community life, according to the report prepared for the public hearing.

“If the Ditch is the lifeblood of the community, this structure houses the heart that has kept that lifeblood flowing,” reads the report.

The building influenced the location of the downtown core and therefore the direction of an emerging community.

Information on how to join the public hearing, and the exact time, will be listed on the Oliver website at oliver.ca/public-hearings.

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