New Hotel Named Billy Barker Inn
From the Cariboo Observer
A GROUP of Prince George businessmen officially announced this week that a new hotel for Quesnel is to be constructed on the corner of McLean St. and Barlow Ave.
The new hotel will be named the “Billy Barker Inn,” after the famous miner who sparked the Cariboo gold rush in 1862 and after whom Barkerville was named.
The Billy Barker Inn will boast 30 bedrooms, all complete with bath, a cafeteria, dining room, licensed lounge, beer parlor, and a 40 by 60 foot banquet room completely equipped to handle parties and gatherings up to 250 persons. Public areas of the building will be fully air conditioned while the balance of the building will be heated by gas fired boilers serving a hot water convector system.
Licensed lounge will be named “The Quartz Room” and will be decorated in such a way as to capture the romance and atmosphere of the early gold rush days in which Billy Barker lived.
It will feature hand hewn beams, hurricane lanterns, gold pans and will show many early, unpublished photographs depicting Barkerville in its heyday.
Construction on the new hotel is expected to begin within the next few weeks with the completion date planned for April, 1961. Architect for the project is Lvnden F. Fonseca of Prince George.