Royal Canadian Mounted Police Depot, Gymnasium and Pool
Recognized Federal Heritage Building
Regina, Saskatchewan
Façade
© Royal Canadian Mounted Police / Gendarmerie royale du Canada, 1986.
Address :
9 Dewdney Avenue, RCMP Depot Division, Regina, Saskatchewan
Recognition Statute:
Treasury Board Policy on Management of Real Property
Designation Date:
1988-08-24
Dates:
-
1937 to 1938
(Construction)
-
1940 to 1941
(Significant)
Event, Person, Organization:
-
Reilly, Warburton and Reilly
(Architect)
-
Van Egmond and Storey
(Architect)
Other Name(s):
-
Gymnasium / Pool, Building 25
(Other Name)
Custodian:
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
FHBRO Report Reference:
86-22
DFRP Number:
13735 00
Description of Historic Place
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Gymnasium and Pool Building is part of a complex of buildings located at the RCMP Depot Division, a police-training complex in Regina, Saskatchewan. This large, red brick building consists of two gable-roofed units that are linked by an entryway. The roofs are masked by raised and stepped end gables capped by decorative white stonework. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.
Heritage Value
The RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.
Historical Value
The RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building, as part of the RCMP Depot Division, is closely associated with the growth of the mounted police training and barracks facility in Regina. This dual physical training facility met a need that grew over the course of the 1930s as the standard of recruit training was upgraded and expanded to meet the new police manpower requirements of the RCMP.
Architectural Value
The RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building is valued for its very good aesthetic and excellent functional design as an indoor training facility of the 1930s era. Its red brick construction, topped by low-pitched gable roofs with decorated raised and stepped end gables, echo the stylistic forms of the other buildings within the complex. The reinforced concrete swimming pool laid in yellow, grey and green terrazzo, the upper level gallery, the acoustically excellent battened ceiling and sound-deadening wall finish, make the structure an innovative and useful facility for its period of construction.
Environmental Value
The RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building maintains an unchanged relationship to its site and reinforces the character of its police training complex setting. The building is familiar to those who live, train, or work in, or who frequent the complex.
Sources: Ivan J. Saunders, 11 Early Building at the RCMP Depot, Regina, Saskatchewan, Federal Heritage Building’s Review Office Building Report, 86-022; RCMP Gymnasium/ Pool Building, Regina, Saskatchewan, Heritage Character Statement, 86-022.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building should be respected.
Its very good aesthetic design, excellent functional design, materials and craftsmanship, for example; it’s massing, which consists of two units linked by an entryway and covered with low pitched gable roofs; the red brick construction; the raised and stepped end gables capped by decorative white stonework; the reinforced concrete swimming pool laid in yellow, gray and green terrazzo, the acoustically excellent battened ceiling and sound-deadening wall finish, and the upper gallery; the symmetrical window arrangement.
The manner in which the RCMP Gymnasium and Pool Building maintains an unchanged relationship to its site, reinforces the character of its police training complex setting and is a familiar building, as evidenced by: its ongoing relationship to the barracks square; its overall large scale, roof profile and decorative stonework, which harmonizes with the stylistic form of the other major buildings at the RCMP Depot Division facility; its continued use as a gymnasium and swimming pool facility which makes it familiar to those who train, live, work and frequent the complex.
Heritage Character Statement
Disclaimer -
The heritage character statement was developed by FHBRO to explain the reasons for the designation of a federal heritage building and what it is about the building that makes it significant (the heritage character). It is a key reference document for anyone involved in planning interventions to federal heritage buildings and is used by FHBRO in their review of interventions.
The gymnasium was constructed in 1937-38 while the swimming pool structure was completed in 1940-41. The original architectural plans for this complex were completed in May 1935 by the Regina firm of Reilly, Warburton and Reilly before their replacement by the firm of Van Egmond and Storey. The Reilly firm's plans for the execution of a complex in a Gothic-derived style harmonizing with the other newer depot training and barracks facilities were largely retained by Van Egmond and Storey when they completed their plans for the gymnasium and swimming pool structure. The building is the property of the RCMP. See FHBRO Building Report 86-22.
Reasons for Designation
The gymnasium/pool building has been designated a Recognized heritage building on architectural grounds as an innovative functional design for an indoor training facility of the 1930s era and on the basis of its contributing role to the overall heritage character of the RCMP complex.
Character Defining Elements
The heritage character is determined by the massing of the structure, its fenestration, its exterior materials and detailing, its construction, its interior layout, finishes and training equipment.
Constructed of red brick with low-pitched gable roofs masked by raised and stepped end gables capped by decorative white stonework, the two units and their linking entryway echo the stylistic forms of the other major buildings on the site. Historic form and fabric should be protected and maintained.
The interior training installations, most notably the reinforced concrete swimming pool laid in yellow, gray and green terrazzo, the acoustically excellent battened ceiling and sound-deadening wall finish and the upper level gallery, make the structure an innovative and useful facility for its period of construction. These features should be retained.
All maintenance and repair work should respect the existing vocabulary and design. Continued use of the building as a training facility would ensure its preservation.