Description of Historic Place

The Pharmacy Building is a Municipal Heritage Property occupying one commercial lot on the Main Street of the Town of Arcola. The property features a two-storey brick retail building built in 1903.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Pharmacy Building lies in its status as a representative example of the first wave of retail buildings to be built in the small towns of Saskatchewan during the first decade of the twentieth century. Constructed in 1903 of local brick, the two-storey building features many typical elements found on the commercial buildings built during the period, including large plate glass windows, pressed tin ceilings on the first floor retail space and an owners' residence on the upper floor. The second storey of the front façade also features windows topped with round arches, a design element which defines most of Arcola's main street buildings built during the same period. A unique and prestigious adaptation of the style found on the Pharmacy Building is the small pavilion, which projects out from the second storey over the front entryway, supported by decorative cast iron columns. A visually-appealing representative of this type of commercial structure, the building served as a significant set location for the 1977 feature film "Who Has Seen the Wind."

Source:

Town of Arcola Bylaw 5-98

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Pharmacy Building resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements which reflect the role of the building as early twentieth-century retail shop, including plate glass windows, inset doorway and pressed tin ceiling;
-the elements which reflect the pre-World War I Arcola streetscape, including brick and wood façade, round-arched windows and projecting entablature;
-the projecting pavilion and supporting iron columns.