Description of Historic Place

The Québec Garrison Club is defined by the long masonry two-storey building which abuts the street, wrapping around the corner of Saint-Louis Street and Côte de la Citadelle, in Old Québec. This modified Château-style building shelters an expansive garden which, with the building, services one of Québec city’s oldest private clubs. The designation refers to the building, its annexes (the guard house, the well building, a storehouse), its garden and wooded area.

Heritage Value

The Québec Garrison Club was designated a national historic site of Canada, in 1999, because:
- founded in 1879 by officers of the Canadian militia, it is the only military club in Canada perpetuating the British colonial tradition of social gatherings between military officers and influential members of civilian society;
- it reflects a strong and symbolic value dear to Canadians who have attained an elevated social and economic position;
- it contributes to the heritage character of historic Québec City as both a social phenomenon and a cultural landscape; and
- it is an integral part of the Québec fortifications.

The heritage value of the Québec Garrison Club resides in its strong military, architectural and social links with the fortified City of Québec and its function as a club as illustrated by its site, setting, club building with its modified Château-style design, associated buildings, garden and wooded grove. The Québec Garrison Club was established in 1879, when prominent Canadian militia officers acquired permission to meet as a social club at 97 Saint-Louis Street. First constructed as an office by the Royal Engineers (1816), this early building was raised one floor in 1893, and extended in 1921, and in 1948, to meet the need for increased space. The Québec Garrison Club is the centrepiece of a cultural landscape containing Messenger’s Quarters (1857), a well building (1867), storehouse (1871), garden and woods. Fire destroyed the interior of the Québec Garrison Club building in 1954-55. It was restored by Parks Canada (1992-93), although a gas explosion (1994) caused further damage. It continues to function as a private club.

Sources: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, 1999; Commemorative Integrity Statement, 2004.

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that contribute to the heritage character of the site include:
- the integrity of the cultural landscape with its landscapes and buildings;
- the club building with its two-and-a-half storey 12-bay stone façade abutting the street, Château-style features including a steeply pitched mansard roof, dormers with entablature and dentils, square pyramidal towers, quoins and horizontal string courses;
- the walls of the first building constructed by the Royal Engineers incorporated into the present club building;
- the protected nature of the enclave south of the Québec Garrison Club building, with its smaller buildings, gardens and woodland border;
- archaeological evidence of the footprints, materials, and functions of earlier buildings and landscape on the site, including the storehouses, workshops, latrines and the sheds erected towards the end of the 18th century;
- the garden with its stepped terraces and grass-covered plateaux which reinforce the historic urban character of this sector of the city;
- the traditional use of cannon balls as decorative elements;
- viewscapes to the powder magazine and the Esplanade park with its cannons and Boer War monument, to the Saint-Louis Gate and to the Connaught barracks;
- its sympathetic setting in the historically mixed use Quartier Saint-Louis.