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Fort Champlain Cadet Quarters (B34)

RMC Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Formally Recognized: 2002/03/21

General view of Fort Champlain Cadet Quarters (B34, demonstrating the use and handling of limestone for the wall surfaces, copings, door/window surrounds, corner “buttressing” and ornamental carvings of entrance porticoes.; Parks Canada Agency / Agence Parcs Canada
General view
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Other Name(s)

Fort Champlain Cadet Quarters (B34)
Cadet Quarters B34
Quartiers des cadets B34
Cadet Dormitory
Cadet Dormitory

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1965/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2005/03/18

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Fort Champlain Cadet Quarters (B34) is a four-storey, symmetrical, rusticated limestone building with a C-shaped footprint and gable roof that features two projecting wings with gabled parapets and corner buttresses, double-hung windows arranged in paired columns on the longest elevations, and smoothly finished stone surrounds at the open archways, portico entrances, and the tall, oriel windows. The Fort Champlain Cadet Quarters (B34) is part of a row of cadet residences and support facilities which flank the western edge of the College’s Parade Square and main sports field, and is located on the western edge of the Fort Frederick peninsula, overlooking Kingston harbour and the downtown area of Kingston. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Fort Champlain Cadet Quarters (B34) is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical value:
Built during a period of expansion at the Royal Military College (RMC), The Fort Champlain Cadet Quarters (B34) illustrates the important theme of military expansion after the Second World War, in particular the additional training requirements imposed by Canada’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) obligations during the Cold War. These commitments, along with the college’s development as a post-secondary academic institution for officer training, necessitated the construction of the dormitory.

Architectural value:
The Fort Champlain Cadet Quarters (B34) is a good, albeit restrained example of the Collegiate Gothic style of architecture. The building blends the traditional ornamental elements associated with the style, with the modern functional program of a dormitory.

Environmental value:
The Fort Champlain Cadet Quarters (B34) reinforces the institutional character of the Royal Military College campus including the adjacent dormitory buildings by virtue of its style, massing, materials, and detailing. Although it is not directly on the Parade Square, the building forms part of the grouping of institutional buildings on Point Frederick Drive and completes the formal internal quadrangle.

Sources:
Rhoda Bellamy, Cadet Quarters (B-34), Royal Military College, CFB Kingston, Kingston, Ontario. Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Building Report 00-035; Cadet Quarters (B-34), Royal Military College, CFB Kingston, Kingston, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement 00-035.

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements of the Fort Champlain Cadet Quarters (B34) should be respected.

The expression of the Collegiate Gothic idiom, as expressed in:
-the massing of the C-shaped building, with its projecting basement coping and the symmetrical composition of wall projections, stepped gable parapets, entrance porticoes and overhead passages;
-the regular rhythm of the window openings;
-the use and handling of limestone for the wall surfaces, copings, door/window surrounds, corner “buttressing” and ornamental carvings of entrance porticoes.


The manner in which the building reinforces the academic character of the RMC campus is evidenced in:
-its completion of the quadrangle begun by Fort Haldiman;
-the building’s massing, materials and detailing which emulate those used on the earlier buildings on the RMC campus.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Federal

Recognition Authority

Government of Canada

Recognition Statute

Treasury Board Heritage Buildings Policy

Recognition Type

Recognized Federal Heritage Building

Recognition Date

2002/03/21

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Function - Category and Type

Current

Historic

Defence
Military Support

Architect / Designer

George E. Bemi and Associates

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

National Historic Sites Directorate, Documentation Centre, 5th Floor, Room 89, 25 Eddy Street, Gatineau, Quebec

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

9589

Status

Published

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Exterior view

Point Frederick Buildings National Historic Site of Canada

Located on a peninsula at the mouth of the Cataraqui River in Kingston, Ontario, Point Frederick Buildings National Historic Site of Canada consists of a group of five masonry…

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