Description of Historic Place

The Bridgman Building on Government Street is a modest two-storey brick commercial building. It occupies one commercial city lot in Victoria's Old Town District, and is distinguishable by three arched round-headed window arches on the second floor and an attractive storefront treatment articulated by a flattened arch filled with leaded glass.

Heritage Value

The Bridgman Building on Government Street is valued as one of the oldest brick buildings on this block of Victoria's historic Old Town District. Originally constructed as a one-storey commercial building in 1863, the subsequent addition of a second floor in 1886 and new storefront circa 1905 chronicle the commercial growth associated with entrepreneurial business in Victoria in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This building is important to the City of Victoria because of the contribution it makes to the heritage character of the Old Town District. An integral part of a cohesive group of stylistically similar buildings on the east side of this block, it helps maintain the continuity of the historic street wall of Government Street, which was, at the time of this building's construction, the main commercial artery in Victoria.

Through historical associations, this building possesses noteworthy interconnections with other buildings nearby, providing significant insight into the development of Victoria in the 1880s. Between 1884 and 1887, civic engineer Dennis Harris designed the four buildings between 1001 and 1021 on this side of Government Street. Together, these buildings survive as a chronicle of the planning and development of the commercial core of the city. A physical connection with another small building of the same name at 604 Broughton Street reflects the commercial speculation undertaken by such nineteenth century businessmen as A.W. Bridgman, who once owned both buildings.

Source:City of Victoria Planning and Development Dept.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Bridgman Building include:
- The two-storey massing.
- The sense of architectural continuity with 1009-1013, 1017-1021 and 1001-1005 Government Street, seen in such design elements as the second storey round-headed arched window, cornice detailing, and dentil moulding.
- The contiguous relationship with 604 Broughton Street.
- The upper storey rounded-headed wood-framed windows.
- Elements of the storefront relevant to its circa 1905 design.
- The integrity of the building envelope, which identifies it as a nineteenth century commercial building.
- Elements of the upper storey façade relevant to its 1886 design.