Description of Historic Place

The Riverview Community Centre was originally built as a one-room schoolhouse at the end of the nineteenth century. The modest wood-frame building is located on King Street, in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, and overlooks the LaHave River. Both the building and its surrounding property are included in the heritage designation.

Heritage Value

The first of Bridgewater's heritage buildings to be registered, the Riverview Community Centre is valued as an important link with the town's educational history.

The historical value lies in its association with activities which are significant to the development of the town. Built circa 1898-1899 as a one-room schoolhouse, it was at that time the newest addition to the town's school system. By 1925, the pressures of population growth saw the need for extra space, and the school was extended, making it a two-room schoolhouse. Riverview School was the longest lived of the three outlying one and two-room schools, and continued to function as a school until 1976, when it was finally closed and began its new role as a community centre. It is significant to note that the building is the only one of two surviving in Bridgewater which remains in use for institutional or educational purposes.

The architectural value lies primarily in its illustration of the earlier visual character of the area's one and two-room schoolhouses. Built on the same lines and scale as the Old East Bridgewater schoolhouse, its simple construction and modest design provides a good example of the building technology used in turn-of-the-century small school buildings. With each addition or modification, this landmark has successfully retained consistency of style and scale appropriate to its original purpose.

Source: Built Heritage Files, DesBrisay Museum.

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of the Riverview Community Centre include:

- original location overlooking the LaHave river;
- all original materials dating to the time of construction, including stone foundation under the old section and wood frame;
- simple style and scale consistent with turn-of-the-century small schoolhouses;
- half-pitch gable roof with cornice returns;
- wood corner boards and window trim in original style;
- entrance porch with pedimented gable and four-light transom window over the doors.