Description of Historic Place

Rural Municipality Office is a Municipal Heritage Property located on one lot within the Village of Simpson. The property features a one-storey, wood-frame building constructed in 1911 and a non-contributing brick addition added during the 1940s.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Rural Municipality Office lies in its long-standing status as a public building. The structure was constructed in 1911 as the municipal office for the Rural Municipality of Wood Creek No. 281, and it served in that capacity for over seventy years. In 1982, the municipality moved offices and the property was converted into the local museum, exhibiting a collection that provides the community a link with its past.

The heritage value of the property also lies in its Boomtown architecture. The Rural Municipality Office displays this style in its wood-frame construction, its simple form and massing and the large rectangular false front, which is topped by a small cornice. Boomtown architecture was commonly used for many small commercial and institutional properties across Saskatchewan to present an image of modernity and prestige through the use of a false front to project the feeling of a larger building.

Source:

Village of Simpson Bylaw 1-1982.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Rural Municipality Office resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect its status as a public building, including its location on its original position and the large “Rural Municipality of Wood Creek No. 281” sign painted across the front façade;
-those elements that reflect the property’s Boomtown architecture, including the wood-frame construction, simple form and massing, and large rectangular false-front façade bordered by projecting trim.