Description of Historic Place

The Land Titles Building is a Provincial Heritage Property comprised of two commercial lots located at 311 – 21st Street East in downtown Saskatoon. The property features a one-storey, brick-and-stone office building constructed in 1909-10 with a 1911 addition.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Land Titles Building resides in its architecture, which reflects a blending of neo-Classical and Romanesque Revival elements that aimed to project the image of strength, permanency, and modernity desired by the province. Designed by the prominent Regina architectural firm of Storey and Van Egmond, this was their first of four such buildings and the most elaborate. While the simple, symmetrical features and the decorative iron cornice reflect the Classical style of the building, the Romanesque Revival style is reflected in the building's quoins, its stone detailing at the arched entry, round-arched windows, and sharp contrasts between its brick-and-stone finishing materials. Its interior elements, such as the marble finish and vaulted ceilings, also gave the building a sense of opulence and modernity.

Heritage value also lies in the building's association with the growth and prosperity of the province. The early twentieth-century immigration boom resulted in a massive influx of settlers to the prairies and led to high levels of land registration. This heightened the demand for services and required permanent, modern, and fireproof facilities for the storage and administration of land ownership records. In order to handle the increased demands being placed on the three pre-existing land titles offices, the provincial government created seven new land registration districts, each with its own land titles office. Almost immediately, the busy Saskatoon office was deemed too small and in 1910, plans were underway for its enlargement. An addition, T-shaped in plan, was completed in 1911, which was identically styled to the original and virtually doubled the building's capacity. The property housed the Saskatoon Land Titles Office until 1959.

Sources:

Province of Saskatchewan, Notice of Intention to Designate as Provincial Heritage Property under The Heritage Property Act, December 10, 1984.

Province of Saskatchewan, Order to Designate as Provincial Heritage Property under The Heritage Property Act, March 18, 1985.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Land Titles Building resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those features that reflect the building's neo-Classical style of architecture, such as its symmetry and its decorative iron cornice;
-those features that speak to the building's Romanesque Revival style of architecture, including the quoins, the brick-and-Tyndall Stone façade, the stone detailing, the round-arched windows, and the decorative, arched entry;
-those features that speak to its role as a provincial land titles office, such as the vaulted ceilings, marble finish in vestibule, the Saskatchewan provincial crest and signage over the main entrance, and original vaults.