Description of Historic Place

The Saskatchewan Revenue Building is a Provincial Heritage Property located in the city of Regina. Occupying six lots on a prominent corner in downtown Regina, the property features a two-storey brick office block with glazed terracotta trim built in 1914.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Saskatchewan Revenue Building lies in its association with the Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company, one of the first major agricultural co-operatives in Saskatchewan. Founded in 1911, in response to the recommendations of the 1910 Saskatchewan Elevator Commission that investigated complaints against grain trade members, the co-operative contributed to the establishment of farmer control over a significant portion of the Saskatchewan grain trade. In 1914 the company constructed this building in central Regina to serve as a new head office. By 1916 the co-operative had become the largest single grain elevator company in the world, resulting in expansions to the head office building in 1916 and again in 1918. During its 15 years of existence, The Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company oversaw the construction of 450 grain elevators throughout the province. It vacated its head office in 1926 when the company and its assets were purchased by the recently established farmers’ co-operative, the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. The provincial government purchased the office block in 1928 and renamed it the Saskatchewan Revenue Building.

The heritage value of the Saskatchewan Revenue Building also rests in its architecture. Built in the Gothic Revival style with Chicago school influences, the building projects a solid presence appropriate for a major grain elevator company. The building was designed by the well-known Regina architectural firm Storey and Van Egmond and built by the prominent construction firm Poole and Emery Ltd. It combines a reinforced concrete structural frame with a brick bearing-wall perimeter. The textured brick exterior of this building is distinguished by green, white and blue terracotta trim. The terracotta trim incorporates symbols of the Saskatchewan grain trade, such as wheat sheaves and grain elevators. Cream-coloured terracotta window surrounds, that span the first and second stories, give vertical emphasis to the Saskatchewan Revenue Building, and ornamental metal spandrels provide further interest by incorporating gothic motifs.

Source:

Province of Saskatchewan, Order Designating Protected Property under The Saskatchewan Heritage Act, February 11, 1980.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Saskatchewan Revenue Building resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those exterior elements that reflect the site’s association with the Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company, such as the terracotta trim that depicts symbols of the grain trade;
-those features that speak to the building’s Gothic Revival architectural style with Chicago School influences, such as the metal spandrels that incorporate a lancet motif, the vertical brick pilasters crowned by terracotta tile, and the broadly arching front entryway.