Description of Historic Place

Located in the Bear Creek Compound, Warehouse No. 1, also known as Building 27, faces a large, open yard in a historic, non-operating, placer gold mining facility in the Klondike River valley. This rectangular building is clad in wood and metal siding and covered by a metal-covered gable roof. The front of the building is distinguished by a pair of large doors. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

Warehouse No. 1 is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.

Historical Value
Warehouse No. 1, as part of the Bear Creek Compound, is associated with the corporate phase of Yukon’s gold mining history, in particular the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation’s renewal and expansion program of the 1930s. The building also illustrates the importance of warehouses and other storage facilities at remote mining facilities, where it was necessary to keep large stocks of materials and supplies on hand.

Architectural Value
Warehouse No.1 is a good aesthetic design of a building that was constructed to provide storage for the large quantity of materials and supplies at a remote location. The small office that serves as a link to the adjacent Engineering Office and the three interconnected storage areas with a central passage and high windows are evidence of its good functional design.

Environmental Value
Warehouse No.1 maintains an unchanged relationship to its site and reinforces the character of its industrial setting at the Bear Creek Compound. The structure is familiar to those within the area.

Sources:
Joan Mattie, Bear Creek Industrial Complex, Bear Creek, Yukon Federal Heritage Building Review Office Building Report 89-008; Warehouse No.1 (Building #27), Bear Creek Compound, Yukon, Heritage Character Statement, 89-008.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of Warehouse No. 1 should be respected.

Its simple aesthetic, functional design, and good craftsmanship and materials, for example:
- the simple and functional nature of its design, and its overall good workmanship and appropriate use of materials;
- the features of its form, construction, and materials that unify it with the site’s other buildings, including its rectangular shape, its metal-covered gable roof, the horizontal wood siding on its front elevation, and the corrugated metal siding on its other elevations;
- the functional configuration of its three interconnected storage areas, with their central passage and high windows;
- the small shipping office, which also serves as a link to the adjacent Engineering Office (Building 28);
- its comfortable relationship – due to its simple form, materials, detailing, and colour scheme – with the other structures and landscape features of the site, particularly the Engineering Office (Building 28).