The new owners of Alexandra Lodge have big plans for the old building, and they are looking for help through a GoFundMe.
Shirley and Ken MacKinnon bought the lodge last year as a retirement property.
Shirley said they’d had their eye on it for almost a decade beforehand, viewing it as a place to live and as a potential storefront to sell her artwork. Maybe an AirBNB rental too.
But since taking possession of the near 100-year-old building last fall, she said they’ve discovered how much it means to the surrounding community.
“We have since learned more about the history of the property and how much people love the Alexandra Lodge,” she wrote on the ‘We Love the Alexandra Lodge’ GoFundMe page. “We knew it was a heritage building and an old roadhouse, but have since learned that it is so much more. The Alexandra Lodge is loved by many, and we now feel that the Alexandra Lodge needs to be accessed by the community.”
And so their plans have changed.
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“Our restoration will now focus on the historical and social value of the historic Alexandra Lodge,” Shirley wrote. “Our once simple interior renovation is now a mission to complete a historic restoration and to allow for community access and use.”
Among the many goals the McKinnons now have:
- We will create a creekside public rest stop with picnic tables, a water fountain and composting toilet.
- A museum and historical display of the Alexandra Lodge and the 1926 renovation will be created. The main floor interior will be public areas will include period correct finishings. The first floor will house an Artist’s Co-op and storefront. In time we hope to establish a Potters and Artist Guild providing free meeting space.
- The famous McClary stove will be restored
- The original kitchen will be restored with a copper ceiling and fixtures. This will also be Shirley’s Art studio, but studio furnishings will not be funded via any fundraising initiative.
- Repair and replace exterior logs, window trims, deck and balcony and restore to the original color scheme of the Alexandra Lodge.
- The historic Alexandra Lodge will be modernized with updated electrical, heating, and insulation.
“The new plans are more expensive than we planned for and will require more work,” Shirley said. ” But we have come to realize that we need to preserve this important part of B.C.’s and Canada’s history.”
Eventually, the McKinnons hope to welcome school field trips by donation, and provide a free photography area for weddings and family events.
Shirley said local tradespeople will be hired as needed, and when complete the building will be fully inclusive and wheelchair accessible.
Shirley said no money from the GoFundMe will be used on their upstairs living space, which they hope to move into in the late spring/early summer.
“GoFundMe monies will not be used for the renovation of the second-floor personal living space, finishes, cabinets or appliances,” Shirley wrote. “In addition, we will self-fund the art studio space and a future workshop/garage space for Ken.”
The GoFundMe goal is set at $35,000 and the page can be found at gofundme.com/f/we-love-the-alexandra-lodge-go-fund-me
To follow the MacKinnons on their renovation journey, visit facebook.com/TheHistoricAlexandraLodge