Description of Historic Place

The Old Town Hall, built in 1906-07, is a Municipal Heritage Property in the Town of Wapella. The property is situated in a central location on the town’s main street and features a two-storey, buff-coloured brick building designed in the Classical Revival style.

Heritage Value

The Old Town Hall is of heritage value for its role as the community’s town hall from 1907 to 2003. Like many of the town halls in smaller towns and cities, it was built to serve multiple functions. Originally, the building contained the Town Council chambers and administrative office, jail, opera hall/auditorium and fire hall. The opera hall/auditorium was the social centre of the community in the community’s early history, hosting theatrical performances, dances, lectures, and debates. The building’s substantial character recalls the established, optimistic, and prosperous character of Wapella at the time of its construction. The community was incorporated as a town in 1903 and construction of the Town Hall, planned two years later, reflects that milestone in the community’s early development.

The Old Town Hall’s heritage value also resides in its architecture, being a sophisticated Saskatchewan example of an early civic building, and the most prominent structure in the community. The building was designed in 1906 by the Regina architectural firm of Hutchinson and Nobles in the formal Classical Revival style, and completed late the following year. It is distinguished by its symmetrical composition, semi-circular windows and front pediment. The building’s brick construction, with fine brick detailing, contributes to its high-quality character. The second storey of the building contains a lofty opera house/ auditorium that was designed with a stage and dressing rooms. The town hall’s opera house/auditorium was equalled by only a few town hall auditoriums in Saskatchewan at the time of its construction.

Source:

Town of Wapella Bylaw No. 05-2008.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Old Town Hall resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements of the building related to its architecture, including its brick construction faced with buff-coloured brick, brick detailing forming window labels, bands and piers, its two-storey, rectangular form, hip roof, front pediment, fenestration comprising semi-circular and flat headed window openings and square attic windows;
-those elements of the property related to its use as a town hall, including the ‘1906’ and ‘TOWN HALL’ lettering in the pediment and frieze, paired fire-hall doorways containing wooden, battened, double doors with original iron hardware, and interior features such as the high-ceilinged second-storey auditorium space with gallery and classical-style wooden gallery balustrade, and contextual elements of the property, such as its central, prominent position on the town’s main street.