Heritage Hall

1997 HERITAGE AWARD RECIPIENT

The Redlands Area Historical Society, Inc.
Heritage Award 1997

Heritage Hall
255 East Olive Avenue
1922

The intersection of Citrus and East Olive Avenues forms a very distinctive triangular comer lot, which needs a creative architectural solution for any structure placed on the site. The Seventh Day Adventist Church recognized this fact when having plans drawn for their new building in 1922.

It became evident by 1921 that the congregation at the Seventh Day Adventist Church on East State Street had outgrown their facilities and that it was time to relocate. The church purchased three lots from M. Stephenson in January 1922. According to the Redlands Daily Facts construction of the $10,000 building, which called for a “church with a fair sized auditorium and good Sunday school equipment” began the middle of May. The Facts reported in late September the building was near completion and that “the church is so built that all the rooms, main auditorium, Sunday school room, and young peoples room can be thrown into one auditorium to seat 500.”

The congregation, now numbering 220 moved into the new building in the fall of 1922. The building remained in the ownership of the church until 1946, but it would be two years before they moved to their present location on Brookside Avenue.

The building is a cross-gables, one and a half story, stuccoed structure with some Craftsman style elements. The gables are vented with exposed triangular knee brackets under the eaves. The entrance fronting onto Olive has a gable at the intersection of the roofline and the entry has another centered gabled with double wooden doors and piers. Archibald Dalgliesh did a stone work wall adjoining the front steps. The entrance fronting at Olive and Citrus has two sets of Double doors with a double gabled roofline.

The church clerk’s records indicate that by 1946 the building was too small for the congregation. In April 1946 the building was sold to the Odd Fellows Lodge, who retained ownership until the late 70’s. Amando Cisneros, owner of Oscar’s Restaurant owned the property for a time, leasing it out for various enterprises.

The present owners are Dr. Terry and Geneil Vines, who purchased the property in 1995. The structure underwent a complete restoration and is now used as a reception hall. Dr. Vines also renovated his dental office, another Redlands landmark, which is located at 114 Vine Street across from the library.

The Redlands Area Historical Society commends Dr. Vines for his interest and dedication in preserving another Redlands historical resource.