Description of Historic Place

The Shaunavon Courthouse at 401 Third Street West is a Municipal Heritage Property located on a large lot in the Town of Shaunavon. The property features a two-storey brick-faced courthouse situated on a landscaped lot.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Shaunavon Courthouse at 401 Third Street West resides in its architecture. Constructed in 1926-27, the building is one of a series of courthouses designed by the office of the provincial architect. Architect and engineer Maurice Sharon designed ten provincial courthouses during his tenure as provincial architect from 1916 to 1930. Several towns and cities were identified as judicial centres where courthouses should be built. Larger centres like Yorkton, Kerrobert, Prince Albert, Weyburn and Estevan received buildings of substantial size. For smaller communities, a prototypical design was developed and realized first in Gravelbourg and later in Shaunavon, Wynyard, Melfort and Assiniboia. The Yorkton Court House, Sharon’s first design, exhibits an elaborate Beaux-Arts style common to other provincial buildings constructed before his appointment. He embraced a Colonial Revival style for the remaining nine buildings, including Shaunavon’s courthouse. These buildings featured pitched roofs, rain gutters integrated with projecting metal cornices, central cupolas with attic ventilation, and brick cladding trimmed with stone. The incorporation of these design elements reduced construction costs and improved roof drainage while retaining the appropriate sense of grandeur for a judicial building.

The Shaunavon Courthouse at 401 Third Street West is valued as a prominent building and a landmark in the community. The grounds terrace upward, raising the building to create an imposing image. The lawns, flower beds and shrubs coordinate with the terraces and are an important feature of the site. The courthouse, situated in the centre of a large landscaped lot, ends the vista of the west end of Fourth Avenue, with the east end terminating at the cenotaph.

Source:

Town of Shaunavon Bylaw No. 4-84.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Shaunavon Courthouse at 401 Third Street West resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that illustrate Maurice Sharon's interpretation of Colonial Revival architecture, such as the use of face brick made at the Claybank Brick Plant, the symmetrical façade, the central cupola, the sloped roof, the entrances adorned with transoms and column-flanked porticos, and the arrangement and design of the windows;
-those elements reflecting its prominence, such as the municipal office signage, the landscaped grounds and the building’s orientation on its original lot.