Description of Historic Place
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Gymnasium and Pool Building is part of a complex of buildings located at the RCMP Depot Division, a police-training complex in Regina, Saskatchewan. This large, red brick building consists of two gable-roofed units that are linked by an entryway. The roofs are masked by raised and stepped end gables capped by decorative white stonework. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.
Heritage Value
The RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.
Historical Value
The RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building, as part of the RCMP Depot Division, is closely associated with the growth of the mounted police training and barracks facility in Regina. This dual physical training facility met a need that grew over the course of the 1930s as the standard of recruit training was upgraded and expanded to meet the new police manpower requirements of the RCMP.
Architectural Value
The RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building is valued for its very good aesthetic and excellent functional design as an indoor training facility of the 1930s era. Its red brick construction, topped by low-pitched gable roofs with decorated raised and stepped end gables, echo the stylistic forms of the other buildings within the complex. The reinforced concrete swimming pool laid in yellow, grey and green terrazzo, the upper level gallery, the acoustically excellent battened ceiling and sound-deadening wall finish, make the structure an innovative and useful facility for its period of construction.
Environmental Value
The RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building maintains an unchanged relationship to its site and reinforces the character of its police training complex setting. The building is familiar to those who live, train, or work in, or who frequent the complex.
Sources: Ivan J. Saunders, 11 Early Building at the RCMP Depot, Regina, Saskatchewan, Federal Heritage Building’s Review Office Building Report, 86-022; RCMP Gymnasium/ Pool Building, Regina, Saskatchewan, Heritage Character Statement, 86-022.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building should be respected.
Its very good aesthetic design, excellent functional design, materials and craftsmanship, for example;
-it’s massing, which consists of two units linked by an entryway and covered with low pitched gable roofs;
-the red brick construction;
-the raised and stepped end gables capped by decorative white stonework;
-the reinforced concrete swimming pool laid in yellow, gray and green terrazzo, the acoustically excellent battened ceiling and sound-deadening wall finish, and the upper gallery;
-the symmetrical window arrangement.
The manner in which the RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building maintains an unchanged relationship to its site, reinforces the character of its police training complex setting and is a familiar building, as evidenced by:
-its ongoing relationship to the barracks square;
-its overall large scale, roof profile and decorative stonework, which harmonizes with the stylistic form of the other major buildings at the RCMP Depot Division facility;
-its continued use as a gymnasium and swimming pool facility which makes it familiar to those who train, live, work and frequent the complex.
