The IOOF Hall on Main Street is one of Summerland’s oldest commercial buildings.
This concrete block building was built in 1908 and located in the centre of Summerland’s first commercial district in Lowertown.
In 1921, the building was dismantled and rebuilt on the corner of Main Street and Kelly Avenue buildings.
Its history begins in 1905. George Gartrell, a member of Summerland’s pioneer Gartrell family operated a meat store in the original Government Telegraph Office on Shaughnessy Avenue. In 1907, G.K. Devitt took over the Gartrell meat store.
In 1908, George Gartrell, built a new two story concrete block building, named the Gartrell Block, northwest of the Summerland Hotel, on Ninth Avenue. This building would eventually become our IOOF Hall.
When the Gartrell Block first opened, the first floor was occupied by the Summerland Drug Store, a dressmaker and also a butcher meat business (Gartrell and Charlie Burtch). This butcher partnership lasted until the beginning of 1909 when Burtch decided the move to Penticton to establish his own meat business.
Initially, Burtch (1879-1934) began his butcher business in Kelowna, then almost two years of business in Summerland and eventually Penticton. There he ran a meat and cold storage facility. He was president of the Penticton Ice and Storage Company, also president of Penticton’s Purity Products and was a director of the Kelowna Creamery.
Following the departure of Burtch, Gartrell advertised for a new tenant for the Gartrell Block butcher shop and John Downton applied for the leased space.
The Gartrell Block was located adjacent to Shaughnessy Springs. The soils in that location were not stable and the foundation of the concrete-blocked building was becoming damaged.
By 1920, the tenants were the Summerland Drug Company and the meat market was then operated by Devitt. Downton had left the Gartrell Block. Reeve J.R. Campbell was planning to build a new building with Downton as the tenant.
Judge W. C. Kelley purchased the concrete blocks from the Gartrell Building and by August 1921, a one-storey building was relocated on “the corner immediately east of the Bank of Montreal.” The plan included one store and several office spaces. The tenant was R.G. Walden and the store was to have a 9.14-metre frontage. Walden sold boots and shoes. One section of the building was used by Postmaster J. Harry Bowering. He was Summerland’s postmaster from 1918 to 1948.
As Kelley’s building was being constructed, the municipality of Summerland was grading a new community road, Kelley Avenue. The street is now named Kelly Avenue.
One of the tenants of the newly restored Kelley Building was George Inglis. He operated a barber shop and a second-hand store.
The Butler and Walden variety store operated from 1921 to 1930. The building also served as Dr. J.R. Graham’s dental practice from 1933 to 1942. The Kelley Building contained a medical office. The first medical doctor to use the building was S.B. Walker and later replaced by Dr. Blanchard Munn and Dr. A.W. Vanderburgh. who remained there until 1947.
In 1935, Kelley sold his building to the Okanagan Lodge No. 58 of the Independent Order of Oddfellows for $4,200. In 1994, the Faith Rebekah Lodge became co-owners of the building. When the building was purchased, tenants of the new IOOF Hall were the Sanderson Farm, selling eggs, the Vanderburg Feed Store and the George Inglis Second-Hand Store.
Founded on Nov. 25, 1908, Summerland’s Oddfellows Lodge is one of the community’s oldest service clubs. Their first meetings took place in the Empire Hall.
From 1915 to 1921 they used the Elliot Hall and from 1921 to 1937 the Oddfellows used the Masonic Hall, all located in Summerland’s Lowertown. The original charter members of the Oddfellows Lodge N. 58, were Dr. F.W. Andrew, K.S. Hogg and Will Ritchie. On the first membership roll were C.N. Borton, B.C. Moore, H. Tomlin, Thomas E. Moore, Dan Moore, Russel Williams, Ernest Goodham, Fred Gartrell, James Darke, Vernon Taylor, Rev. J. Hood and Dr. R.C. Lipsett.
In 1921, the Lodge began using the Masonic Hall, found in the Campbell Block. In 1934, the Faith Rebekah Lodge was founded. A fire destroyed many of the contents of the lodge a year later.
Because of the fire, the Oddfellows and the Rebekahs looked for another home for their meetings. With the support of Walden, Tomlin, Ritchie, Gartrell, Nesbitt and Dunsdon, they purchased the restored Kelley building on Main Street in 1935.
Following the purchase of the building, the interior was extensively renovated to attract community events.
In 1958, Summerland’s Oddfellows and the Rebekahs celebrated the 50th anniversary of their founding. A highlight of their celebration was the presentation of a 50-year jewel to Summerland pioneer and charter member, Fred Gartrell.
In 1979, the interior of the building again was renovated. Their goal was to attract catering and rental opportunities. The kitchen was expanded and improved and the restrooms were updated.
In 1996, the exterior of the building was modified to conform to Summerland’s new Tudor Theme. Summerland was developing this theme to make the downtown more attractive to both their citizens and visitors.
In June 2024, the parent body, the IOOF Grand Lodge in Victoria created a Summerland-based committee to manage the building and restore the building as a centre for community activities.