Description of Historic Place

The Fire Hall is a Municipal Heritage Property located in the Village of Mortlach. The property features a two-storey, wood-frame vernacular structure with a boomtown false front and belfry.

Heritage Value

The Fire Hall, built circa 1906, is of heritage value as a rare surviving example of a pioneer-era combined fire hall and town hall. The structure was constructed approximately two years after Mortlach was established, also making it one of the earliest buildings in the village. The fire hall combined important civic and government functions in one building, which was typical, especially in smaller communities. In the case of Mortlach, the building contains a second-storey courtroom, which was also used as the village’s council chambers. The first storey of the building contained the village jail, which remains, in addition to the village’s fire-fighting equipment.

Source:

Village of Mortlach Bylaw No. 01-07.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Fire Hall resides in the following character-defining elements:
-elements of Fire Hall’s design and construction, such as its wood-frame materials with bevelled wooden siding; two-storey, gable-roof form with boomtown false front; open belfry; large fire equipment doorway and secondary entrance; interior arrangement with second-storey courtroom and first-storey jail; courtroom elements, including differing floor levels, a bench railing and decorative tin ceiling and the first-storey jail cell;
-elements of the Fire Hall’s context, such as its placement on its original location.