Description of Historic Place

Situated in the eastern section of Grosse-Île Building 100, also known as the Lazaretto, overlooks the St. Lawrence River. The long, low wooden building has a gable roof punctuated by large dormers. The façade’s many, regularly spaced multi-paned windows and one principal door. Modest detailing includes a clapboard exterior. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

Building 100 is a Classified Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values:

Historical value:
Building 100 is one of the best examples of a structure associated with immigration and quarantine in Canada. In 1832, Grosse-Île became a quarantine station for the port of Québec. Building 100 is the last remaining building from this key period in the island’s history and is the oldest immigration building still standing. In 1847 a great typhus epidemic in Europe threatened to spread to North America. Building 100 was among several hospitals and buildings built to detain and treat new immigrants. Soon after construction, Building 100 was converted to a hospital and used as such until the quarantine station was closed in 1937. Building 100 and the cemetery are the sole vestiges of this period associated with the fight against contagious diseases.

Architectural value:
Building 100 is valued for its good, simple design. The excellent functional design reveals a great deal about the state of medical knowledge and hospital techniques at the time. The perceived benefits of fresh air and natural light dictated that the building include ventilators and many windows. Since the building had to be partially prefabricated to facilitate the construction process, these components were made in the city of Québec and installed on-site on Grosse-Île. Very good craftsmanship is evident, for example, in the well-executed and high quality joints used in the framing.

Environmental value:
Building 100 establishes the present historic character of its immigration and quarantine setting at the east section of Grosse Île where it remains the primary structure. Building 100 is a local landmark on the St. Lawrence River, to the local community and to visitors.

Sources:
Histoire et Archéologie, Bureau régional de Québec, Le Lazaret (No. 100),
Grosse-île, Québec, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, Report 93-031, (Partie 1: 1832-1860); The Lazaretto, Grosse-Île, Quebec, Heritage Character Statement 93-031.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of Building 100 should be respected.

Its excellent aesthetics, its very good functional design and very good craftsmanship, for example:
- the very long, rectangular massing with a gabled roof;
- the vernacular timber construction;
- the numerous openings and four large dormers on the south slope of the roof;
- the shingles that clad the main roof and the dormer roofs and sides;
- the regular placement of windows and doors;
- the two vent shafts that rise through the attic space to ventilation towers mounted at the peak of the roof;
- the louvres in the gables, either side of the main door, and in the dormers with one-piece louvres or movable shutters;
- the configuration and fittings, including the wood panelling covering the walls and ceilings.

The manner in which Building 100 establishes the historic character of its immigration and quarantine setting on the eastern sector of Grosse-Île where it marks the spatial division of the island and is a landmark on the St. Lawrence River, as evidenced by:
- its scale, design and materials, which complement the other historic structures on the island;
- its location near the shore which make it a familiar local landmark to staff and visitors.