Description of Historic Place

The Signal Hill Arts Centre, built 1912-13, is a Municipal Heritage Property in the City of Weyburn. The property features a four-storey, red-brick building located in the southwest corner of Weyburn in the Signal Hill neighbourhood.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Signal Hill Arts Centre lies in its former role as the Municipal Hospital from the time of its completion in 1913 until 1952. The building was the second hospital to serve Weyburn and replaced a structure that had functioned as the hospital since 1905. After completion, the Municipal Hospital was the primary health care facility for the city and the Rural Municipality of Weyburn No. 67, which provided part of the funding for construction, and a larger outlying area. It operated as the largest facility of its type between the U.S. border and Regina during the period. From 1913 until about 1936, the hospital also functioned as a training school for nurses, and offered instruction for 12 students at a time. After being replaced in 1952, the building served as a Catholic-run nursing home until 1984.

The Signal Hill Arts Centre is also of heritage value for its architecture, being one of the largest and finest buildings to be constructed in Weyburn prior to the First World War. The building was designed in 1912 by Winnipeg architect, John Atchison, one of that city’s pre-eminent architects who had designed Winnipeg’s General Hospital the previous year. Atchison’s simple and functional design was finished in high-quality red brick, a fieldstone foundation and a broad hip roof with dormer windows. The interior was completed with modern, sanitary finishes, such as terrazzo floors.

Source:

City of Weyburn Bylaw No. 85-1585.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Signal Hill Arts Centre resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements of the property related to its architecture, such as its four-storey, rectangular form with hip roof and dormers, red-brick cladding, scored fieldstone foundation and stone belt course.