B.C. landmark celebrates centenary

The iconic courthouse in Nelson, B.C., celebrates its 100th birthday on Saturday.

To mark the occasion, the city is staging mock court cases and holding an open house at the historic landmark.

"This is a B.C.-grown building that has this great Nelson connection. I think the community is very proud of it," said Nelson historian Shawn Lamb.

Designed by Francis M. Rattenbury, the renowned B.C. architect who also designed Victoria's legislative buildings and the Empress Hotel, the courthouse was completed in late 1908, but officially opened in May 1909.

"I guess you could say [it's] like a castle. That's the style with the turret and the tower. It's almost like a moat walking into it. He [Rattenbury] actually brought this classic kind of style to British Columbia," Lamb said.

The building's rich history includes hangings at the courthouse gallows and an attempted bombing by the radical Doukhobor sect Sons of Freedom in the 1960s.

Historian Pat Rogers said only the quick action of a taxi driver saved the building from destruction.  

"He [the taxi driver] came into the building and saw a bomb and took it out of the building, and then the fire and police came and took four more bombs out of the building," Rogers said.

"It would have been a pile of rocks."