Description of Historic Place

Scandia Lutheran Church is a Municipal Heritage Property located within the Rural Municipality of Lakeview No. 337 approximately 16 km north of the Town of Wadena. The property features an one-storey country church and cemetery established in 1914.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Scandia Lutheran Church lies in its association with the area’s pioneers. The church was built by local residents in 1914 and was used as a religious gathering place until 1970 when the congregation moved to a facility in nearby Hendon. The church’s name reflects the main ethnic settlement in the region, the Scandinavians, and provides a constant reminder of their impact on this corner of Saskatchewan. A number of these settlers are buried in the cemetery, providing a link between the area’s current residents and their forbearers.

The heritage value of the property also lies in the property’s architecture. Typical of ecclesiastical buildings constructed across rural Saskatchewan, the church exhibits the influence of the Gothic Revival style. This influence can be observed in the pointed-doorways and windows, central bell tower, steeple and tall vertical proportions.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Lakeview No. 337 Bylaw 2-85.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Scandia Lutheran Church resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect the area’s pioneers, such as its location on its original site, the arrangement of the cemetery in symmetrical rows, and signage;
-those elements that reflect the property’s Gothic Revival architecture, including the pointed-arch windows and doorways, steeple, bell tower and religious symbols.