Alexandra Lodge, 150-year-old Fraser Canyon roadhouse, threatened by wildfire

The Alexandra Lodge, a two-storey heritage hotel in the Fraser Canyon built in 1858, has become a critical refuge point—and now a fire risk—as wildfires threaten the region.

Shirley and Ken MacKinnon, who bought the property to restore it after moving from Maple Ridge, had just finished renovating the bathroom when the first Brunswick Creek wildfire started in early July. Days later, as fires forced evacuations from North Bend and Boston Bar, the lodge became a safe storage point for neighbors fleeing south with their vehicles and belongings.

Then, on July 21, the Anderson Creek wildfire started. "We were storing people's vehicles and a lot of things here for them," Shirley said. "It was considered a safe place back then."

For over 150 years, Alexandra Lodge has anchored the Tikwalus Trail through the canyon. Built as a simple whitewashed roadhouse in 1858, it evolved into a two-storey hotel that by the 1920s welcomed automobile travellers along the newly opened toll road. Its hospitality peak came in the 1930s when it hosted King Prajadhipok of Siam. After the proprietress died in 1947, the lodge gradually lost its lustre, passing through owners and falling into disrepair despite a heritage designation in the 1970s.

When the MacKinnons bought it, they began restoring it to former glory. In five years of work, they've uncovered what they believe are the original roadhouse walls, renovated the upstairs to livable condition, installed new hardwood flooring, and decorated the bathroom in 1930s-era wallpaper. Their goal was to make upstairs livable and turn much of the bottom floor into a museum dedicated to the lodge's history.

As HOC reported in July, Highway 1 closed as the out-of-control Brunswick Creek wildfire forced evacuations, and later three major fires raged through the Fraser Canyon.