Description of Historic Place

Firehall No. 8, a 2 1/2-storey brick structure with a prominent side tower, constructed in 1906, occupies a mid-block site in a largely residential area of Elmwood, a district in east-central Winnipeg. The City of Winnipeg designation applies to the building on its footprint.

Heritage Value

Firehall No. 8, a substantial, durable municipal building of modest composite design, represents one of the earliest in a standardized series of Winnipeg fire stations built between 1904 and 1913 from plans by the architectural partnership of brothers Alexander and William Melville. These functional and economical facilities, commonly a blend of Richardsonian Romanesque and Italianate styles, were similar in scale, form, materials, features and interior layout. They became civic landmarks in their neighbourhoods, while also giving firefighters efficient living and workspaces, initially suited to horse-drawn equipment and later adapted to the era of motorized vehicles. Firehall No. 8, which served a community of modest houses and sprawling industries added to the city in 1906, is one of the plainer versions of the plan, but nonetheless a fine example of its type with many intact exterior features.

Source: City of Winnipeg Committee on Environment Minutes, April 16, 1984

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Firehall No. 8 site include:
- its mid-block location on the north side of Talbot Avenue, a main street in Elmwood
- the structure's placement, set back several metres from the edge of the street

Key exterior elements that define the building's functional vernacular design include:
- the elongated rectangular form, of brick construction on a stone foundation, including a 2 1/2-storey main volume under a hipped roof with gable dormers and a lower flat-roofed stable and loft at the rear
- the tall square Italianate hose-drying tower (northeast corner) with its flat-headed and round-arched windows, recessed brick bays, brick stringcourses, modillioned cornice, parapet, flagpole, etc.
- the balanced, relatively flat front (south) elevation dominated by arched equipment bays with large transoms; also by an arrangement of paired second-storey windows, two dormers, etc.
- the additional fenestration provided by tall rectangular openings in the side and rear walls and stable
- the front entrance set in the recessed southeast corner, topped by arched drip-moulding, etc.
- the modest materials, finishes and details, including walls of monochromatic buff brick, limestone accents of matching hue, vivid red-painted trim, arched brickwork, continuous drip-moulding and keystones over the equipment doorways, a circular brick and stone motif on the front second floor, rough-cut stone windowsills, lintels and front plinths, a tall brick chimney with stringcourses, etc.

Key elements that characterize the building's interior include:
- the utilitarian concrete ground floor
- portions of the original layout, including a large open area on the ground floor, a main stairway on the east side with intact steps and elegant wood balustrades, etc.