Description du lieu patrimonial

The historic place is Century House at 620 Eighth Street, a one-storey, 21,000-square-foot seniors’ centre which is located at the east edge of Moody Park. This Modernist building, constructed in 1958 with many later additions, is both gabled- and flat-roofed, with elongated brick, wood and coloured stone siding, and a concrete foundation. The building sits on flat ground surrounded by mature landscaping, side gardens and the kept lawns of the Park. A cement sidewalk is covered by a breezeway to the building’s main entrance on its east side. The rear of the building is accessible by an asphalt path. The New Westminster Lawn Bowling Club field sits to the north of the building. The park office building constructed in 1938 sits directly to its south.

Valeur patrimoniale

Century House is valued for its association with the provincially, municipality and privately-funded building projects that took place to commemorate the Province's centenary in 1958. Situated in Moody Park, Century House has provided leisure services and activities to older adults in the area since its construction. It is one of the first seniors’ centres of its type built in Canada and is valued for its contribution to the then-innovative trend of opening this type of centre across the country. To mark its importance, Princess Margaret and Lieutenant-Governor Frank Ross cut the building’s ribbon at its grand opening.

The building underwent numerous alterations over the years, representing the changing needs of its users and the expansion of its programs. Among the changes were a large extension (1966), a crafts field house (1969), the addition of the entryway, breezeway and reception hall (1971), kitchen expansion (1981), and the addition of dining space, activity space and meeting rooms (1989). The original 4,000 square-foot building, which has value for its early Modernist clean, flat-roofed design, remains mostly intact. However, with additions it has grown to 21,000 square feet. Most of the additions took place on the west side of the building, with the breezeway and main entry on the east side.

Source: City of New Westminster Planning Department

Éléments caractéristiques

The character-defining elements of Century House include its:

- location in historic Moody Park
- L-shaped Early Modern core building, typical of the late 1950s, with features that include the intersecting flat roofs with fascia boards at the eaves, and the plain, rectilinear openings of the doors and windows
- gently-pitched gabled roof with enclosed eaves on the addition
- variety of exterior finishes, including coloured field stone, elongated red brick, and wood siding
- wide elongated-red-brick chimney on the north elevation
- window combinations to either side of the chimney, including one-over-one and fixed
- window combinations that are repeated on the east elevation