Description of Historic Place

The VIA Rail/Canadian National Railways Station at The Pas is a one-and-a-half-storey, multi-coloured-brick railway station, built in 1928. It is centrally located in the town of The Pas. The formal recognition is confined to the railway station building.

Heritage Value

The VIA Rail/Canadian National Railways Station at The Pas reflects the optimistic outlook of the late 1920s for the future of northern Manitoba and The Pas. The station at The Pas functioned as a terminus and distribution centre for northern Manitoba and was important to the mining and forestry industry.

One of a small number of Second Class railway stations in Manitoba, the station at The Pas was unusual within the province for its large size, brick construction and use of multi-coloured bricks for decorative effect.

The building serves as a landmark in the community. The station retains its relationship with the railway tracks and with contemporary commercial buildings on adjacent streets.

Sources: Heritage Character Statement, VIA Rail/Canadian National Railways Station, The Pas, Manitoba, October, 1992; and Murray Peterson, Railway Station Report 083, VIA Rail/Canadian National Railways Station, The Pas, Manitoba.

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of the VIA Rail/Canadian National Railways Station at The Pas include:
- its simple, elegant proportions and strong horizontal massing;
- its one-and-a-half-storey height, topped by a large bellcast hipped roof broken by connected double dormers on the front and back slopes;
- its strong horizontality, reinforced by: the linear layout; the banding of the masonry walls; the deep, bracketed, roof overhang, and the connected double dormers;
- its materials and detailing, including: a concrete foundation rising to the lower sill level; variegated brick on the wall above; large wooden brackets set on concrete corbels; false half-timbering on the dormers and the stepped entrance porch; and two brick chimneys rising from the roof line.