Description of Historic Place

One of a complex of twelve buildings known as the National Training Centre, the Ice House is a two-storey, gable-roofed structure constructed with a rustic vocabulary of materials that includes horizontal logs and shakes. It features a full storey basement with a plain entrance door and a second level, small, wooden sundeck. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Ice House is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.

Historical Value
The Ice House and its complex are associated with the early development of Jasper National Park. The National Training Centre was originally part of a homestead known as the Palisades Ranch. The Palisades Ranch had been established by Lewis Swift, a personality who figured prominently in the history of the area. The Palisades Ranch was a trail-related tourist industry and, as such, contributed to the development and use of Jasper Park. It remained privately owned until 1962 when it was purchased by the National Parks Branch. It began operation as a training center for Park employees in 1964.

Architectural Value
The Ice House is a good example of a functional building type constructed in a rustic aesthetic. Its well-executed vocabulary of building materials, consisting of horizontal logs and shakes, conforms with the architectural character of Canada’s National Parks. An adaptable design, the Ice House was remodeled to serve as a cottage.

Environmental Value
As a significant building within the National Training Centre (formerly the Palisades Ranch), the Ice House is compatible in size, design and placement with the character of the complex. Although the complex is self-contained and not visible from the highway, the Ice House, by virtue of the fact that it is part of the National Training Centre, is known to the communities of Jasper and Hinton.

Sources:
Kate MacFarlane, National Training Centre (former Palisades Ranch), Jasper National Park, Alberta, Federal Heritage Building Report, 87-010.

National Training Centre (former Palisades Ranch) Jasper National Park, Alberta, Heritage Character Statement, 87-010.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the Ice House should be respected, for example:

Its functional design and rustic vocabulary of materials, for example:
Its simple massing, consisting of a full storey basement with a second storey level and
gable roof. Its horizontal log construction. Its plain basement level with a simple door and second level door and picture window. The choice of materials, including horizontal logs and shakes which speak to the rustic
character of the building.

The manner in which the Ice House is compatible with its setting, as evidenced by:
Its scale, its functional appearance and rustic materials, all of which are sympathetic
with the other buildings in 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 National Training Center was built as the Pallisades dude ranch in 1936 to the designs of William Blakey. In later years further buildings were constructed and the previous were renovated. The complex of 12 buildings is the property of the Canadian Parks Service. See FHBRO Building Report 87-10.

Reasons for Designation
The National Training Center was designated Recognized because of its association with the early development of Jasper National Park complex and the qualities of its site and setting. The Pallisades was a trail related tourist industry and as such, contributed to the development and use of the park by the public.

Originally constructed on an area of land previously homesteaded and owned by Lewis Swift, a personality who figures prominently in the history of the area, the Pallisades continued to be privately owned until the early 1960's. It was built as, and remains, a visually isolated self-contained complex of buildings built within a consistent vocabulary of building materials.

Character Defining Elements
The heritage character of the property is defined by its presence as a visually isolated and self-contained complex. The buildings are in two main groups, along the roads which frame the large grassed area or green, and clustered around a loop in the road to the south of the green. Any additional development should respect the existing groupings. The buildings of the original ranch are architecturally very similar despite the significant alterations some have received. They display the rustic vocabulary of horizontal log, shingles and stone construction that appear elsewhere in the park.

New buildings should be designed around the use of these materials and of similar scale and massing of the existing buildings so that the architecture continues to be mutually enhancing. The barn and garage remain substantially unaltered. Their retention in their present form is encouraged.