Photo: KTW file

A view of the fifth floor hallway of the Kamloops courthouse, which celebrated its 40th anniversary earlier this month.

Dozens of people gathered last week to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Kamloops courthouse.

The imposing five-story structure at 455 Columbia Street officially opened on October 16, 1984. It was built at a cost of $28 million to replace the old courthouse, which still stands on the street Seymour, at First Avenue.

Heather Shea, a justice of the peace and clerk who works in the building, threw a birthday party. About 30 people gathered last Wednesday – 40 years to the day since the official opening – in the courthouse library.

Shea made sure there were balloons and cake, as well as a display of photos taken immediately after construction and provided by the builder.

“I love the architecture and design of the building,” she said. “I love that it’s a testament to 1984, the year it opened, and I basically wanted to celebrate that.”

Construction of the Kamloops courthouse has been anything but smooth.

The project was delayed before getting underway due to a disagreement between the province and the City of Kamloops over location. The city insisted it be built downtown while the province wanted to explore other options.

When work finally began, crews digging the foundations uncovered an anonymous cemetery of three bodies, later determined to be hanged men decades earlier, when the site housed the Kamloops provincial jail.

In 1983, a dispute over unionization among project workers led to further construction delays.

The Kamloops Courthouse is the fourth courthouse serving the community. The first was a one-story log building erected in 1874 at the west end of Main Street, now West Victoria Street, near where the south end of the Overlanders Bridge stands today .

The second courthouse was a two-story wood frame building located at the corner of First Avenue and Victoria Street, the current location of City Hall. This courthouse, which also served as a church and meeting hall, opened in 1885. An attached jail was added the following year.

The city’s third courthouse was the Old Courthouse, still standing at First and Seymour. The ornate Edwardian structure was built in 1909, designed by the same architects who built the Empress Hotel in Victoria.

Shea said the Kamloops courthouse is her favorite building – and she feels lucky to be able to go there every day for her job.

“How many people can do that?” I don’t think there are many,” she said. “It’s pretty special. It makes me feel a certain way. I love it here.”

Photo: Heather Shea

The Oct. 16 celebration at the Kamloops Courthouse Law Library included cake, balloons and photos of the building taken immediately after its 1984 completion.