Description of Historic Place

The Radio Canada Building is a square, one story, utilitarian building with a central hipped roof located within McNair Secondary School property and set back from No. 4 Road. The historic place consists of the building footprint.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Radio Canada Building lies in its historical association with the history of radio in British Columbia. As the first radio transmitter site in the province, from 1938 to 1976 it functioned continuously as the voice of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, reaching people throughout B.C.

Its location within a large, open, once-isolated site and the sturdy building's utilitarian construction illustrate the specific functional requirements needed for radio transmission. Its importance was emphasized with uninterrupted use of the buildings and grounds granted to the CBC by the Richmond Board of School Trustees after the site was purchased for a secondary school.

The building also represents the social and community value of radio to all communities in British Columbia in the early part of the century. The importance of both social contact and the communication of information through radio cannot be underestimated.

Source: City of Richmond Clerk's Department File #4200-02.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements of the Radio Canada Building include:
- - The original use of the building as British Columbia's first radio transmitter and the site activities related to this use
- The utilitarian structure of the building designed to facilitate the radio operations of the CBC, and consisting of modern, one storey structure constructed of masonry with three sections of flat roof and a central hipped roof over a courtyard
- The windows, which reflect the building's style and function, are few. They are small, double-sash single pane windows, including a larger corner window which marks the building entrance
- Several original interior doors notable for their thickness
- The location of the building on a large lot in what was once an isolated area of Richmond
- The relationship of the building to the site and No. 4 Road