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Saskatoon Railway Station (Canadian Pacific) National Historic Site of Canada

305 Idylwyld Drive North, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7L, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1976/06/01

West (rear) elevation of the Saskatoon Railway Station, 1990.; Parks Canada Agency/Agence Parcs Canada, Marilyn Armstrong-Reynolds, 1990.
Rear elevation
East (front) elevation of the Saskatoon Railway Station, 1990.; Parks Canada Agency/Agence Parcs Canada, Marilyn Armstrong-Reynolds 1990.
Front elevation
Corner view of east and south sides of the Saskatoon railway Station, 1990.; Parks Canada Agency/Agence Parcs Canada, Marilyn Armstrong-Reynolds 1990.
General view of the place

Other Name(s)

n/a

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1907/01/01 to 1908/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2007/02/23

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Saskatoon Railway Station is a two-storey, Chateau-style railway station, built in 1907-08 and enlarged in 1919. It is prominently located on Idylwyld Drive in downtown Saskatoon. The formal recognition consists of the building on its footprint at the time of designation.

Heritage Value

The Saskatoon Railway Station (Canadian Pacific) was designated a national historic site in 1976 to commemorate the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Line. The station exemplifies smaller depots built by the line during its prosperous years.

The Saskatoon station illustrates the early-20th century period of tremendous growth and expansion for the CPR. Built at a time when Saskatoon was the regional centre for three major railway companies, it reflects the intense rivalry between companies and the CPR’s aspiration to become the predominant railway in Saskatoon. The Saskatoon station is a good example of the streamlined Chateau style favoured by the CPR after 1900 for both larger divisional stations and smaller depots. The building is now privately owned and operated as a restaurant and offices.

Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minute, June 1976.

Character-Defining Elements

The key elements that relate to the heritage value of the Saskatoon Railway Station include:
- its picturesque, Chateau style, as expressed in its steep, hipped roofs and polygonal tower,
- features typical of early-20th-century railway stations, including: a prominent tower; a hipped roof; wide, overhanging eaves with brackets; dormer windows; a prominent chimney; decorative detailing including pressed/turned metal roof finials and rolled ridge caps; and a variety of colour and texture in the building materials,
- the variety of exterior materials used to provide texture and colour, in keeping with the picturesque aesthetic, including: yellow face-brick; white Tyndall stone on the plinth, stringcourses, sills, lintels, corner quoins, and eave bracket corbels; white Tyndall stone to accentuate the tower, including the ashlar face stone, large eave brackets and date block; cedar-shingle roofing; pressed and turned sheet metal work; and timber eave brackets,
- surviving original mullioned wood window units at the transom lights and south end dormers, and surviving original wood frames throughout the building,
- surviving original remnants of the interior plan and features, including: interior partitions, original finishes, transom lights, full-height ceilings, and windows,
- the building’s relationship to its site, including the tracks to the west, and its visual links to Idylwyld Drive and to 22nd Street to the north and east.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Federal

Recognition Authority

Government of Canada

Recognition Statute

Historic Sites and Monuments Act

Recognition Type

National Historic Site of Canada

Recognition Date

1976/06/01

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

1919/01/01 to 1919/01/01

Theme - Category and Type

Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
Architecture and Design
Developing Economies
Communications and Transportation

Function - Category and Type

Current

Historic

Transport-Rail
Station or Other Rail Facility

Architect / Designer

J. Carmichael, Canadian Pacific Railway Engineering Office

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

National Historic Sites Directorate, Canadian Inventory of Historic Building Documentation Centre, 5th Floor, Room 525, 25 Eddy Street, Hull, Quebec

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

759

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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