Description of Historic Place

The Wideview Community Club (School) is a Municipal Heritage Property located 18 kilometres southwest of the Village of Mankota in the Rural Municipality of Mankota No. 45. The property features a one-storey, wood-frame school, built in 1917 on a small grass school yard featuring a ball diamond, and is surrounded by a shelterbelt.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Wideview Community Club (School) lies in its historical use as a school and community gathering place. Built in 1917 as the school for the Wideview School District, the structure also served numerous community functions such as church, dance hall and general meeting place. Originally located five kilometres to the southwest, it was moved to its present location in 1927 to be more central within the redrawn school district boundaries. After closing in 1960 as a school, the building was purchased by the local Wideview Community Club, and continued to serve various community functions, with the grounds used for baseball events and picnics.

The Wideview Community Club (School) is also of heritage value for its architecture, which exemplifies a one-room, country schoolhouse of its time with a high degree of historical integrity. The schoolhouse is rectangular in plan, featuring a hip roof, lapped wooden siding, rear porch and fieldstone foundation. The interior of the building retains its blackboards and open, one-room floor plan.

Source:
Rural Municipality of Mankota No. 45 Bylaw No. 83-1.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Wideview Community Club (School) resides in the following character-defining elements:
-its location on its 1927 foundation;
-spacious, tree-sheltered schoolyard containing a baseball diamond;
-architectural features which exemplify a one-room schoolhouse, including its wood-frame construction; one-storey, rectangular plan; cedar-shingled hip roof with closed eaves; central front entrance with multi-pane transom light; rear porch; south elevation window wall; wooden-sash windows; lapped wood siding; signboard above entrance identifying ‘Wideview S.D. No 3911’;
-interior features, such as blackboards and open, one-room plan.