Description of Historic Place

The Shelter, also known as Cathcart Shelter, stands on Cedar Island in the St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada. The rectangular, single-storey wooden structure is open-sided with a hipped roof supported at the perimeter by wooden posts. Executed in the Rustic style, the building has an open interior space and is surrounded by a low surrounding railing. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Shelter is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value
The Shelter is a very good example of a building associated with the development of Canada’s national park system and early Canadian tourism. It is also associated with the emerging ideals of protecting and enhancing designated wilderness areas for the pleasure and benefit of Canadians, and with the increase in visitors to Canadian parks during the interwar years. The Crown, in response to public demand, created the St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada, eastern Canada’s first national park. The Shelter was built in response to a perceived need for additional facilities.

Architectural Value
The Shelter is valued for its good aesthetics. The rustic aesthetic developed in the 1920s and 1930s for use throughout Canada’s national park system was thought to complement the natural setting, and reflected the picturesque aesthetic consistent with Canada’s National Parks’ tradition. The Shelter demonstrates the use of milled-wood frame construction as a more economical alternative to log construction, achieving a rustic image at minimal cost. Good functional design is evidenced in the open interior, while good craftsmanship is evidenced in the woodwork.

Environmental Value
The Shelter maintains an unchanged relationship to its site, is compatible with the picturesque character of Cedar Island and is a familiar landmark to the local community and park visitors.

Sources: Kate MacFarlane, Twenty Eight Buildings, St. Lawrence Islands National Park, Ontario, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, Reports 93-023 through 93-038; Cedar Island Picnic Shelter, St. Lawrence Islands National Park, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement 93-034.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the Shelter should be respected.

Its good aesthetics, good functional design and good quality craftsmanship, for example:
- the open design and unpartitioned interior space;
- the hipped roof, exposed rafter ends, wood support posts and diagonal brackets surrounding railing with diagonal braces, all sitting on a concrete slab floor;
- the use of milled-wood frame construction.

The manner in which it reinforces the picturesque, yet accessible character of the setting as evidenced in:
- its location on a remote, heavily treed site, on an island, with a campsite, privy and dock nearby.