The Temperance Hotel, which first arrived in Ladysmith 121 years ago, has been refurbished into a boutique hotel. Owners Stefan Queitsch and Denise Bergquist have spent the past three-and-a-half years refurbishing from the ground up, literally. “We would do our day jobs, go home and get changed, and then have a goal of scooping 100 buckets a night with shovels.
We were in such good shape,” laughed Berquist. The hotel was moved from Nanaimo in 1900. It was cut into pieces, put onto a rail cart and then reassembled where it sits now.
In the early days of Ladysmith, the town had a large population of single, often transient, men. As an affordable housing alternative, the hotel was used to house miners. Besides it’s function as a hotel, the building was also used as an overflow hospital during the Spanish flu, a doctor’s office, and other retail businesses.
Story continues below View this post on Instagram A post shared by @thetemperancehotel These days, the Temperance Hotel is also pulling double duty. Besides offering accommodations, the Ladysmith Art Gallery is also a new tenant in the historic building. Communications and marketing coordinator for the art council, Francesca Reside, says the gallery is thrilled to be in the heart of downtown.
CHEK Newsletter Sign up for the CHEK Now daily email newsletter to get breaking news and the day's top stories sent to your email. Email Address Sign Me Up “Being in a historical building right in downtown Ladysmith has been so .
