Busy scene overnight as heritage house moved from Richter Street

Photo: Jane Eamon

UPDATE: 2:30 p.m.

The owner of the heritage house says the move has gone well.

"I went in it after we got it off the foundation. She is a very solid girl so there wasn't that much damage. Some plaster is cracked," Shona Harrison said.

The move will continue tonight at 11 p.m.

"We couldn't do the whole move in one night. The third and final day they will set her on the foundation."

She says the house will be moved to an acreage in southeast Kelowna.

Harrison says she purchased the home six years ago.

"I spent two years restoring it. I never thought I would move it. Over the years I had been approached by numerous developers about the property and they want the land, but not the house. I wanted to buy an acreage and so it became clear to me that I couldn't sell and leave her there."

"I have seen too many heritage houses taken down. It is a very special house and I wanted to preserve it," Harrison added."

UPDATE: 7 a.m.

A large gathering of emergency vehicles on Richter Street in Kelowna overnight was to facilitate the moving of a heritage house.

The J.N. Thompson house was being moved to a new location.

The two-storey, wood-frame Queen Anne Revival style house previously sat on a large, treed lot near the northeast corner of Richter Street and Sutherland Avenue.

According to the City of Kelowna's heritage register, the home was built in 1911 and is "valued as a fine example of the Queen Anne Revival architectural style, as expressed by the asymmetrical plan and massing and highly articulated facades. The house is a late and transitional example of the style, built at a time when the Classical Revival styles predominated. Local contractor George E. Ritchie was the designer and builder of this prominent home. It has survived in virtually intact original condition and is particularly noteworthy for the rarity of its style in Kelowna, its imposing size and its grand setting on a large lot."

John Nelson Thompson (1870-1956) was a prominent citizen and businessman. He was variously a tobacco grower, an orchardist in the Glenmore area, a founding member of the Central Okanagan Land and Orchard Company and a partner in the Morrison-Thompson Hardware Store.

ORIGINAL: 6:20 a.m.

Residents report a large first responder presence on Richter Street in Kelowna overnight.

About 11 p.m., as many as a dozen utility vehicles, police cars and a fire engine were seen with emergency lights activated, lining both sides of the street near Rowcliffe Avenue.

It's not yet known what prompted the police response.

Castanet will update with more information as details become known.

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