A Brief Story about the Pacific National Exhibition
Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier opened the original Pacific National Exhibition event as the Industrial Exhibition. The two week attraction held an eclectic range of performances, merchants and sports events. Based in Hastings Park since 1910, the Exhibition has received as many as 1.1 million visitors (recorded in 1986) and was once second only to the New York State Fair.
The Exhibition shares Hastings Park with several major attractions, such as Playland, the Pacific Coliseum, the Pacific National Exhibition Forum, the Pacific National Exhibition Agrodome, and Hastings Skatepark.
The objective in the Industrial Exhibition was to showcase the Pacific side of Canada, or British Columbian frontier as it was back then.
Throughout the nearly one hundred years since it's inception, the PNE has hosted many historic events and has helped numerous organizations flourish. From the first demonstration of the rotary telephone to the BC Home Show, the PNE has acted as the launch pad for countless endeavors. Without the PNE, it is hard to imagine where many performances such as the Eukanuba Superdogs Show would originate, and thanks to the PNE, British Columbia can boast many of Canada's little wonders, year after year to great effect and success.
Originally named Happy Land in 1926, the fairground park was moved in 1958 and re-opened as Playland. As a fullfledged division of the PNE as of 1993, Playland consists of 15 acres of games, rides and the world class 1958 Wooden Roller Coaster, designed by Carl Phare and Walker LeRoy. While many would arrive in droves to witness the awesome pieces on display, the fairgrounds boast an attendance of half a million annually on the rollercoaster alone.
To further the eclectic nature of the PNE, during the second World War (from 1942 until 1946) the PNE was closed and the grounds used to train soldiers!
Today the Pacific National Exhibition stands as a stalwart piece of history, and the perfect venue through which Canadians can experience British Columbian heritage.
Excerpt from the 2009 Grand Prize Page
"Spacious, light-filled rooms welcome you as you enter this beautiful craftsman-style home. The home is over 3,000 square feet with a built-in sound system throughout the home, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a fully equipped fitness room including an LCD TV, a home office, media room with 52” LCD TV and surround sound, gourmet kitchen, dining area, large great room with many windows to embrace the view, wrap-around decks on both floors and plenty of essentials for outdoor entertaining.
As if all this isn't enough, the Pacific National Exhibition Prize Home, even comes with groceries. Twenty five hundred dollars, worth of groceries, from Marketplace IGA! To ensure that it stays prize worthy for at least a year, MiniMaid will be providing housecleaning service, and for those who want to stay current, The Province newspaper will be on the doorstep for three hundred sixty five mornings.
The Lottery, The Prize Home, and the Builder
Held annually for 75 years, Kirschner Mountain is proud to boast the first PNE Prize Home to reside in Kelowna.
This environmentally friendly wonder is to be a 3000 square foot, two story, craftsman style home nestled above the clouds on the slopes of Kirschner Mountain.
The design and engineering behind the PNE Lottery Prize Home is in the capable hands of Brtico, a company of over thirty years experience in personalized service in modern home design. As the official supplier of the 2010 Winter Games and the Canadian Olympic Team, Britco is a trusted name in quality home design and as such Kirschner Mountain is where their work will stand.
The PNE Prize Home is to include environmentally responsible options, showcasing an efficient in-floor and forced air heating system, along with the air conditioning, all sponsored by Terasen.
The hot water system even includes solar collectors to heat up to 50% of the annual energy need for domestic use!
That's a good thing because the hot tub provided by Coast Spas & Billiards was the perfect touch alongside the patio furniture, and barbeque (not to mention the fabulous kitchen energy efficient appliances) from of Home Depot.
Whomever takes the prize home can forget moving services, as complete furnishings are provided by Lane, a company with nearly a hundred years to their name.
2009 PNE Prize Home Virtual Tours by World Exposure