Description of Historic Place

The National Hotel is a Municipal Heritage Property occupying one civic lot on Railway Avenue in the Town of Rosthern. The property features a two-storey, brick building with corner entrance, which was constructed in 1903.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the National Hotel resides in its role as a commercial building in the community of Rosthern. Constructed in 1903, which pre-dates the incorporation of the town, this building was purpose-built to house the Bank of British North America. It also provided space for a private bank called the Canadian Territories Corporation, which eventually sold out to the former bank in 1906. The Bank of British North America served the Rosthern area for 15 years until 1918, when it was absorbed by the Bank of Montreal. In 1931, the Bank of Montreal sold the building and it became the National Hotel, a function it retained until the 1970s.

Heritage value also resides in the building's architecture. Projecting the images of strength, stability, and conservatism, the building established a sense of authority and permanence desired by banking institutions at the time. Its two-storey rectangular plan speaks to its functional design, which, like most bank buildings in smaller centres, placed the service counter, manager's office, general office, and vault on the first floor. The second floor served as the bank manager's living quarters. The building's decorative elements, including brick detailing above the windows, arched doorways, and along the roofline, enhance the prominence of the structure while the straight lines, regular window placement, and corner entrance impart the sense of order and confidence necessary in bank buildings.

Source:

Town of Rosthern Bylaw No. 2000-06.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the National Hotel resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those features that reflect its architectural style, such as it rectangular form and massing, corner entry, arched doorways, regular window patterning, straight roofline, all with brick detailing.