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Bastion

94 Front Street, Nanaimo, British Columbia, V9R, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1985/12/02

Exterior view of the Bastion , ca. 1900; Nanaimo Community Archives, Jack E. Work Fonds, Photo No. 1993 028 A-P43
South elevation, ca. 1900
Exterior view of the Bastion, 2004; City of Nanaimo, Christine Meutzner, 2004
West elevation
Exterior view of the Bastion, 2004; City of Nanaimo, Christine Meutzner, 2004
North Elevation

Other Name(s)

Bastion
Nanaimo Bastion

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1853/01/01 to 1855/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2004/07/30

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Bastion is a freestanding, octagonal, three-story defensive fortification that overlooks Nanaimo's Inner Harbour. The historic place is confined to the building footprint.

Heritage Value

Nanaimo's oldest building and the sole reminder of the Hudson's Bay Company's singular coal mining venture, the Bastion is the physical evidence of the community's earliest European social and economic development.

The Bastion, built between 1853-1855, is the only known remaining freestanding tower structure built by the Hudson's Bay Company. As such, it is a unique example of a defense fortification built by a company that played a major role in Canadian history.

The Bastion's unusual octagonal shape and high visibility from both land and sea make it Nanaimo's premier landmark.

The Bastion represents British Columbia's earliest case of historic preservation and is an important example of the changing approaches to heritage conservation. It originally stood on the other side of Front Street, and was moved in 1891 after its original site was sold. In 1974, it was moved to its present location in another preservation effort. The building's environmental context, overlooking the harbour, has never changed.

Source: City of Nanaimo, Development Services Department, file #6800-20-H01-02/98 Front Street

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of the Bastion include:

-all of the original elements of a Hudson's Bay Company defensive fortification as expressed in the squared hand-hewn logs, octagonal shape with projecting third floor, "poteau-sur-sole" (post on sill) construction and second floor rope pull gun ports and rifle slots.

-all of the elements of the successive rehabilitations including the shingle roof and the foundation.

-the location of the Bastion in a prominent downtown location, visible from both the sea and from land

Recognition

Jurisdiction

British Columbia

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (BC)

Recognition Statute

Local Government Act, s.967

Recognition Type

Heritage Designation

Recognition Date

1985/12/02

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

1891/01/01 to 1891/01/01
1974/01/01 to 1974/01/01

Theme - Category and Type

Developing Economies
Extraction and Production

Function - Category and Type

Current

Leisure
Museum

Historic

Defence
Military Defence Installation

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

City of Nanaimo, Development Services Department, file #6800-20-H01-02/98 Front Street.

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

DhRx-63

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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