Description of Historic Place

The Moose Jaw Court House is a Provincial Heritage Property comprised of two city lots at 64 Ominica Street West in Moose Jaw. The property consists of a two-storey brick structure built in 1909.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Moose Jaw Court House lies in its status as the oldest continuously functioning provincial court house in Saskatchewan. It represents the establishment of the Moose Jaw judicial district at the turn of the century. The building is a concrete-and-steel structure replacing an earlier wood-frame court house built on the same site. The use of hydraulic pressed brick and Bedford Stone trimmed with Indiana Limestone marked the beginning of a building program by the young province to replace buildings of the territorial period with more impressive structures.

The heritage value of the Moose Jaw Court House also lies in its architecture. The Moose Jaw Court House was designed by Toronto-based architects Darling and Pearson during their brief service as Saskatchewan’s provincial architects. Darling and Pearson were known for their bank architecture in the Neo-Classical style. During their tenure in Saskatchewan they designed this court house and the Regina Land Titles building. Later court houses designed by Provincial Architects Raymond Philbrick and Maurice Sharon followed the stylistic trend of the Moose Jaw facility before Sharon adopted the Colonial Revival style in the 1920s.

Sources:

Province of Saskatchewan, Notice of Intention to Designate as Provincial Heritage Property under The Heritage Property Act, February 15, 1988.

Province of Saskatchewan, Order to Designate as a Provincial Heritage Property under The Heritage Property Act, February 15, 1988.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Moose Jaw Court House resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect the building's use as a court house, such as the carved stone trim which features symbols of the Province of Saskatchewan;
-those elements that reflect the Neo-Classical architectural style, such as the vertical proportions, prominent cornice and double-storey Doric order, the brick columns adorning the entrance, pressed brick façade, stone trim and arched windows.