Description of Historic Place

The Power House is a Municipal Heritage Property situated on a municipal lot at 401 Melfort Street in the City of Melfort. The designation applies to a one-storey, brick building constructed in 1913.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Power House lies in its status as a public building in the City of Melfort. Constructed early in the twentieth century, the building housed Melfort’s first power generator that began supplying power to a few of the community’s residents on October 9, 1913. Demand for electricity increased as the community grew; so much so that on August 27, 1929 the community voted to sell the Power House to Canadian Utilities Limited, whose larger system could better meet the electrical demands of Melfort's citizens. In 1948, Canadian Utilities sold the Power House to Saskatchewan Power, a newly created Crown Corporation, for incorporation into its provincial electrical generation and transmission system. In 1973, the building became home to the Melfort and District Museum, a role the Power House continues to play today.

The heritage value of the property also lies in the building’s architecture. Made of red brick highlighted with lighter brick around the window and door openings, the building symbolizes strength and permanency similar to other power production facilities built during the same era. Favouring practicality over aesthetics, the utilitarian building has a hip roof clad with sheet metal, the original steel weathervane, and corner parapets. The interior of the building has been extensively renovated since it was built; however, a small portion of the original ceiling remains clad in decorative tin sheeting, a feature not found in most early industrial structures. Located on its original site, the building remains a landmark in the community.

Source:

City of Melfort Bylaw No. 91-10.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of The Power House resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those features related to its status as a public building in the City, including its placement at its original location;
-those architectural elements associated with industrial buildings built during the early-twentieth century, including its red brick exterior highlighted with lighter brick around the doors and windows and diamond-shaped patterns on the front; corner parapets and original weather vane;
-the decorative tin sheeting on the ceiling.