Description of Historic Place

120 – 1st Street East is a Municipal Heritage Property located within the Town of Meadow Lake. The property features a two-storey, brick-clad, wood-frame building constructed in 1938 with an addition constructed in 1954.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the 120 – 1st Street East lies in its status as a prominent public building in the community. The building was constructed in 1938, shortly after the incorporation of the town. As the first federal building in the community, it was designed to house several federal government agencies, including the local Post Office and Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment. In 1954, the building was expanded to accommodate the Federal governments growing need for office space in the community. In 1979, the Post Office built a new building and the federal government sold the property to the town for their administrative offices, thus continuing its role as a public building.

The heritage value of the property also lies in its architecture, which features subdued Classicism with streamlined Art Moderne architectural elements. Common to federal office buildings of the period, the Classical influence can be observed in the property’s clean angular forms, and subdued brickwork and stone detailing. Evident in the pilastered walls and recessed bays and windows along both streetscapes, this style is used to project an image of height and granduer. The property’s Art Moderne influence is defined by the font of the inset signage and the brick pilasters which frame the doorway and rise to form a stepped parapet.

Source:

Town of Meadow Lake Bylaw 13/92.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the 120 – 1st Street East resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect its use as a public building, including “Meadow Lake” sign and dates stone, on the south façade, the “Town Hall” sign above the main entrance, the clock above the main entrance, the location of the building on its orginal site set back from the sidewalk and small lawn along both street fronts, the flag poles in front of the main entrance, and the flag pole on the roof above the main entrance;
-those elements that reflect the property’s Classicism and Art Moderne design elements, including its regular massing and form, pilastered walls and recessed bays and windows along the street fronts, projecting entrance tower with pilasters and stepped parapet, stone detailing along the parapet and around the window openings.