Description of Historic Place

The Fort Lasalle Dormitory is one of a group of three buildings that sit on the west border of the parade square at Royal Military College. This austere, rectangular building is faced with rusticated limestone. The main façade is defined by a central, square tower and two slightly projecting pavilions with parapet gables at either end. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Fort Lasalle Dormitory is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.

Historical Value
The Fort Lasalle Dormitory is closely associated with the emergence of a professional armed force in Canada through officer training. The structure was constructed as part of a building campaign to implement a uniform style of architecture at Royal Military College.

Architectural Value
The Fort Lasalle Dormitory is a good example of the Collegiate Gothic style established as the uniform style of architecture for the Royal Military College at the turn of the century. The very good functional design, craftsmanship and materials are evidenced in the building’s axial symmetry, and in the consistency of style and materials, which exemplify the Beaux-Arts principles of functional efficiency, expandable design, and unity of form.

Environmental Value
The Fort Lasalle Dormitory maintains an unchanged relationship to its site. The building reinforces the character of the parade ground precinct and is familiar to those who work, live and frequent the campus.

Sources:
Martha Phemister, The Fort Lasalle Dormitory, Building 33, Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario, Federal Heritage Building Review Office 89-047.

The Fort Lasalle Dormitory, Building 33, Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement, 89-047.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the Fort Lasalle Dormitory should be respected, for example:

Its Collegiate Gothic style, very good functional design and craftsmanship and materials,
for example:

-The rectangular footprint, central square tower, parapetted side gables and rear
wings;
-The crenellations and Tudor entranceway, the buttresses and carved stone drip
moulds and shields;
-The rusticated limestone facing;
-The axial symmetry;
-The surviving interior layout and finishes.

The manner in which the Fort Lasalle Dormitory maintains an unchanged relationship to its site, reinforces the present character of the parade ground precinct setting and is a familiar landmark, as evidenced by:

-Its ongoing relationship to its surrounding open space, connecting stone arches and
adjacent buildings;
-Its stylistic Collegiate Gothic elements and rusticated limestone facing, which are identical to the adjacent Fort Haldimand and similar to the Yeo Building;
-Its visibility, given its prominent location and large scale;
-Its familiarity, as part of a grouping of historic buildings, and as a residence at the
campus.