Description of Historic Place

The Canadian Pacific Railway Station is a Municipal Heritage Property located on a one-half hectare lot at 305 Idylwyld Drive N. in the downtown area of Saskatoon. The property features a grand two-storey, brick and stone railway station, which was constructed in 1907-1908, and its surrounding lot.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the CPR Station resides in its association with Saskatoon's emerging status as an important prairie city. By constructing a station of this size and stature, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company helped confirm Saskatoon's growing prominence in the West. Unlike the wooden structures in smaller centres and rural areas, Saskatoon's CPR station was significantly larger and built of brick, an indication of the permanent nature of the depot. Similarly, the station's chateau-style of architecture, which emulated Edmonton's grand Strathcona station, speaks to the level of importance that the company placed on the flourishing town. Unlike other railway stations, Saskatoon's CPR depot was not built according to a typical CPR plan; rather, since it coincided with the city's building boom, the station was designed specifically to reflect the optimism of a booming prairie town.

Heritage value also lies in the building's central location. The downtown site chosen for the CPR station was only a few blocks from the rival Canadian Northern depot that was built in 1890. The new CPR station attested to the fact that Saskatoon was now served by the three main railway lines—the Canadian Pacific, the Canadian Northern, and the Grand Trunk—and this solidified Saskatoon's identity as a "hub city," a distribution centre to the North and the halfway point between Winnipeg and Edmonton.

The only remaining original railway depot in Saskatoon, the CPR station continues to stand as a symbol of a city's optimism and, remaining on its original site and retaining its original character, it continues to be a landmark in Saskatoon.


Source:

City of Saskatoon Bylaw No. 7444.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Canadian Pacific Railway Station resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect the Chateau-style railway architecture, such as the steeply-pitched roof with bay dormers, the 15 metre, polygonal turret, and the large, overhanging eaves supported by heavy, arched brackets;
-those elements that speak to the building's permanent location, such as its size, its brick construction, the Tyndall stone, the massive lintels;
-the building's angular siting on a city lot.