Craigdarroch Castle will be able to expand its displays, galleries and programming as a result of the City of Victoria approving zoning changes to a house that borders the castle’s lot.
City council voted unanimously to approve the changes for the house at 1070 Joan Cres., owned by the Craigdarroch Castle Society. The vote will allow the society to move administrative offices and a gift shop out of the castle and into the building next door.
“We want to get operational activities out of the castle — the gift shop and lunchroom, curator’s office, registrar’s office, visitor services, personnel, and volunteers — and into the other building,” said John Hughes, executive director of the Craigdarroch Castle Society.
“Essentially we’re getting the noise out of the castle and putting in more content for our visitors and tourists to experience. There are so many stories we haven’t even started telling properly, but we needed exhibit space.”
The neighbouring house, built in 1913 for Thomas and Emily McConnell for $8,000, was one of the first lots sold and developed after the Craigdarroch estate sale. It is currently divided into six rental suites. B.C. Assessment values the building and land at $1.15 million.
Hughes said only three of the suites are rented, and that tenants will be given plenty of notice before they are asked to leave.
The $2-million capital plan is to return the house to its original floor plan as a single-family home, then add an additional 800 square feet to the rear of the home toward the castle.
The society will also move a garage around to the Joan Crescent side of the house where it will be used as a seasonal tea room.
When it’s completed — the society is hoping to be done in the spring of in 2018 — they will have a 7,000-square-foot visitor centre and administrative office.
Hughes said they are excited to be able to move on the plans, which were first considered in 2003. “This is not about making more money in a different way, this is about improving the visitor experience and adding more content and fulfilling our mandate of telling the castle’s stories inside it,” he said.
The society’s presentation plan suggests it will divide the castle in half, devoting 50 per cent to telling the story of Robert and Joan Dunsmuir, who completed the castle in 1890, and the rest to tell the story of the castle’s various uses — military hospital, Victoria College, school board office, Victoria Conservatory of Music — and to tell the story of the society itself.
While plans have not been finalized, Hughes said they intend to re-establish the kitchen, scullery and pantry where the gift shop and lunchroom currently sit and which visitors have said are key rooms for understanding the Dunsmuir period. The current registrar’s office is set to become a gallery for the Second World War military hospital.
The castle had a strong year in 2015 with 140,000 visitors, up from the 120,000 in 2014. “For the first time in eight years, we actually saw an increase in feet from cruise ships ... it’s been flat for years,” Hughes said.
