Renovation work underway at the Crossroads Inn in Kamloops. (Image Credit: Victor Kaisar/CFJC Today)

By Victor Kaisar

Crossroads Renovations

Major renovation work underway at Crossroads Inn in Kamloops

Mar 16, 2025 | 10:30 AM

KAMLOOPS — Major renovation work at the Crossroads Inn at Seymour Street and Sixth Avenue in downtown Kamloops is full swing after a number of delays.

The work will see nine hotel rooms on the first floor of the building converted into multi-family rental units, and the addition of kitchenettes to the other 42 units. It will also see the coffee shop on the main floor converted into a shared dining room and kitchen space.

ASK Wellness Society CEO Bob Hughes also said the renovations will include landscaping work, improvements to the building envelope including the roof and ‘major mechanical upgrades’ to the heating and cooling system.

“It includes all new mill work for the kitchen assemblies, some new flooring and bathroom fixtures,” Hughes said. “There will also be new lighting throughout to replace the old-style lights that made it feel institutional.”

“The corridors, in terms of ventilation, were totally inadequate so each unit will have its own HRV unit that will be providing heating and cooling. Historically, we had no airconditioning in the hallways and we had these little wall shaker air conditioners.”

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Work delayed due to provincial election, budgets

The ASK Wellness Society applied to rezone the property in the fall of 2023 to allow for the development of residential units on the first floor, which is not permitted in the Central Business District (CBD) zone.

“The intent of restricting residential units from the ground floor in the CBD zone is to ensure that the availability of commercial space will positively impact the commercial viability of the area,” a City of Kamloops staff report said. “However, the renovations ensure that residential amenities and office space will continue to front Seymour Street, with the residential units located in the rear.”

“By doing so, the building will retain the appearance of commercial use along the street frontage and will allow for the first storey to remain adaptable to future commercial uses.”

The building will also have significantly reduced parking requirements — one space for every four units — as staff note people living in social housing are less likely to own vehicles.

That rezoning and a Housing Agreement Bylaw were approved by Kamloops council in June of last year.

“It has been painstakingly long to get us queued up,” Hughes added. “I think, as everybody knows in the community, the building was really well past its usability in its current state.”

While work was expected to begin last fall and wrap up in the summer, Hughes also said about three months was lost waiting for the necessary provincial approvals because of the election in October.

“A lot of it had to do with the coordinating between BC Housing and the general contractor, and going through the writ period,” Hughes told CFJC Today.

“A big part was building out the budget for the scope of work. We needed to go back and get approval for the amount of money necessary to do the renovation and then, I think, the entire province literally went to a halt until a new government was formed.”

Work expected to wrap up this year

Despite that delay, Hughes expects the renovations will be completed on schedule this year.

“The race will be on to try to complete this in six months, which is rally ambitious,” Hughes said. “We’re still anticipating we will have the building complete for the mid-summer, at which point then the folks who have been relocated will be brought back.”

“We know we’ve got people who want to get out of the temporary accommodation in Valleyview with the motel because this is their home, and being displaced has not been an easy process.”

But Hughes also said it was “high time” that the Crossroads site, which was opened as a transitional and supportive housing building in 2011, be transformed.

“That site was just really badly neglected because we just didn’t have the money to invest in the building,” Hughes said. “Through the support of the province we can actually transform it to make it feel like a home, to feel like its part of the neighbourhood.”

“Let’s not forget that this used to be the Rafter G, one of the most notorious buildings for nefarious activity and so over the time, I think we’ve maximized the use of the building in its condition and its just been so desperate for the updates that we are anticipating.”

Image Credit: Victor Kaisar/CFJC Today