605 Courtney Street & 809-817 Government Street

BUILDINGS ASSOCIATED WITH FREEMASONS IN GREATER VICTORIA

The Metropolitan Building at 605 Courtney Street / 809-817 Government Street was built in 1903 by architects Thomas Hooper and C. Elwood Watkins for Joseph Rostein and Lewis Rostein. The Metropolitan Building is listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.

Joseph Rostein was a member of Victoria-Columbia Lodge No. 1.

Here is a map showing the location of 605 Courtney Street / 809-817 Government Street

Here is a Google Street View image of 605 Courtney Street:

A Brief History of the Metropolitan Building

The Metropolitan Building was built in 1903 by architects Thomas Hooper and C. Elwood Watkins for Joseph Rostein and Lewis Rostein at a construction cost of $14,000. It was was originally called the Rostein Building but was re-named the Metropolitan Building circa 1904.

The Rostein brothers built the Metropolitan Building with the intention of renting space to commercial tenants. Early tenants included the Windsor Grocery, the American Consulate and Thomas Plimley, a member of Britannia Lodge No. 73, who ran a bicycle shop at the time he was in this building. Thomas Plimley later branched out into selling motorcycles and cars at other Victoria locations.

Alterations were made to the Metropolitan Building in 1946 by the architectural firm of Birley, Wade and Stockdill, which changed the original Government Street facade and removed the building’s original cornice.

The Metropolitan Building has always been a commercial building with stores on the main level and office space on the second floor.

For additional information on the Metropolitan Building:

• Victoria Hallmark Society
• Canadian Register of Historic Places

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