Description of Historic Place

The Canadian Pacific Railway Station is a Municipal Heritage Property located on a 4330-square metre lot at 100 Railway Avenue in the Town of Outlook. Completed in 1909, the property is situated at the head of one of Outlook's commercial streets and features a one-storey, rectangular building with hip roof and central gable.

Heritage Value

A symbol of prairie railway expansion, the heritage value of the Canadian Pacific Railway Station lies in its former status as an economic and transportation hub in the area. In 1908, the Canadian Pacific Railway company purchased what would become the Outlook townsite, selecting it as a divisional point on its Moose Jaw-Edmonton branch line because of its central location and proximity to water. Because of its status as a divisional point, the company constructed a larger-than-normal station for a town of Outlook's size, and provided both passenger and freight service. When the CPR built the 915-metre long bridge across the South Saskatchewan River at Outlook in 1912, which completed Moose Jaw-Edmonton line, the town's role as an economic and transportation hub boomed. The high traffic resulting from the bridge placed great demand on the depot, and its yards were significantly expanded to provide maintenance service. By 1913, the railway grounds included section buildings, water service, locomotive service and repairs, tool house, stockyards, pumphouse, and grain-loading facilities. These facilities, along with the general passenger and freight service for both the town and surrounding grain-producing region, secured Outlook's location as an economic and transportation hub for many years. After the Second World War, the introduction of diesel engines ended the need for a maintenance depot at Outlook. Though the station remained active during the 1950s due to the nearby construction of the Gardiner Dam, by the early 1960s, the station served little more than the surrounding farm community. Like most Saskatchewan railway stations, passenger service to Outlook was discontinued at mid-century, and freight service ended in the early 1970s.

Heritage value also resides in the building's architecture, which reflects the characteristic railway design of its era. Built to CPR Standard Plan X-13, this station is one of only three of its kind built in Saskatchewan, all of which were constructed at divisional points on new branch lines. A simple station with few architectural pretensions, this combination freight-and-passenger station is a long, one-storey frame structure, crowned with a widely projecting hip roof, with the centre frontispiece originally enclosing the telegrapher's box. It features typical railway characteristics, such as the substantial eave projection supported by standard-issue decorative brackets, which protected passengers and their luggage from the elements. The interior layout and design reflect the functional needs of the building, including separate areas for baggage and storage at the extreme ends of the building. The central portion was subdivided into three sections, of which the central portion contained the ticket agent's office. To its left was the general waiting room, with a portion sectioned off for women.

Located on its original site, the Canadian Pacific Railway Station remains an important symbol of the community's history.

Source:

Town of Outlook Bylaw No. 11(2003).

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Canadian Pacific Railway Station resides in the following character-defining elements:
-elements that reflect the typical railway architecture, such as the hip roof with large, bracketed overhang, the form and massing, including the 11-foot ceilings and large, open freight and baggage area, windows and doorways and their locations, including the original ticket agent's window, and the central gable;
-its location on its original site.