Description of Historic Place

The Former Army and Navy Store is a Municipal Heritage Property located on one lot at 229 Main Street North beside the Capitol Theatre in downtown Moose Jaw. The two-storey, brick-clad building was built in 1918.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Former Army and Navy Store lies in its role as an important commercial building. In 1914 the Merchants Bank planned to construct a six-storey office block on nearby High Street, but the impact of war in Europe later that year put an end to those plans and to Moose Jaw’s construction boom. By the spring of 1918, a more modest building boom began and the Merchants Bank commissioned this building as a temporary office, while they built a grander bank on an adjacent lot. Various retailers and professionals occupied the building until 1945, when the Army and Navy department store chain purchased it and made it a hub of retail activity. In 2000, the chain withdrew from the city and the Former Army and Navy Store became part of the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre with the neighbouring Capitol Theatre building.

The heritage value of the Former Army and Navy Store also lies in its architecture. Designed by prominent Regina architects Storey and Van Egmond, the building has decorative elements such as ornamental brick-work, a cornice, pilasters, corbels and a corbel table which add to its prominence. The building features large window openings on the main-storey and smaller rectangular ones on the upper-storey which speak to its use as a commercial and retail building. Like the Capitol Theatre building on the adjoining lot, the façade of this building is clad with Tee-Pee Moka Brick manufactured by the Saskatchewan Clay Products Company at Claybank. As one of several pre-1920 buildings on this block, the Former Army and Navy store building contributes to the historic integrity of Moose Jaw’s Main Street North streetscape.

Source:

City of Moose Jaw Bylaw No. 5147, 2001.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Former Army and Navy Store resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements which reflect its original role as a commercial and retail building, such as large window openings on the main-storey and smaller rectangular ones on the upper-storey;
-the decorative elements of the building, such as the ornamental brick-work, pilasters, cornice, corbels and corbel table which add to its prominence;
-those elements of the façade contributing to the historical integrity of the streetscape, such as the Tee-Pee Moka Brick cladding that also appears on the façade of the neighboring Capitol Theatre and the building’s orientation on its original lot.