Description of Historic Place

The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter sits surrounded by trees on an island in the St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada. It is a simple rectangular, single-storey wooden structure with a hipped roof supported by wooden posts at the perimeter. Executed in the Rustic style using milled wood-frame construction, with roughly finished wood supports, the building has an unpartitioned interior space and is surrounded by a low half-wall. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical value:
The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter is a very good example of a building associated with the development of Canada’s national park system and early Canadian tourism. It is also associated with the emerging ideals of protecting and enhancing designated wilderness areas for the pleasure and benefit of Canadians, and with the increase in visitors to Canadian parks during the interwar years. In response to public demand, the Crown created the St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada, eastern Canada’s first national park. The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter was built in response to a perceived need for additional facilities.

Architectural value
The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter is valued for its very good aesthetics. It is a good example of the rustic aesthetic developed in the 1920s and 1930s for use throughout the park system, which was thought to complement the natural setting, and reflected the picturesque aesthetic consistent with National Parks’ tradition. The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter demonstrates the use of milled-wood frame construction as a practical alternative to log construction, achieving a rustic image at minimal cost. Good functional design is evidenced in the open, flexible space, while good craftsmanship is evidenced in the woodwork.

Environmental value
The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter maintains an unchanged relationship to its site, is compatible with the picturesque character of Adelaide Island and is a familiar landmark to the local community and park visitors.

Sources: Kate MacFarlane, Twenty Eight Buildings, St. Lawrence Islands National Park, Ontario, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, Reports 93-023 through 93-038; Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter, St. Lawrence Islands National Park, Heritage Character Statement 93-025.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter should be respected.

Its good aesthetics, good functional design and good quality craftsmanship, for example: its rustic aesthetic and conformity to the standard design for national park picnic shelters; the simple, functional design, in keeping with its use as a public picnic shelter; the open design and unpartitioned interior space; the hipped roof, exposed rafters, vertical wood support posts, wood brackets, and concrete slab floor; the use of milled-wood frame construction, with roughly finished wood components.

The manner in which it reinforces the picturesque, yet accessible character of the setting as evidenced in: its relatively isolated island location on a heavily treed site, with a privy and dock nearby in the St. Lawrence River.

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 Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter is a “Recognized” Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values:

Historical value:
The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter is associated with the increase in visitorship to Canadian parks during the interwar years. Adelaide Island was one of 12 islands set aside by the federal government for park purposes in 1904, in response to increasing public demands for recreational space. The area was established as St. Lawrence Islands National Park (SLINP) in 1914. Because of its inaccessibility by automobile, SLINP was slower to achieve growth than other national parks, and did not see increased numbers until the late 1930s. The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter was built in 1935 in response to a perceived need for additional facilities.

Architectural value:
The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter is a good example of the rustic aesthetic developed during the 1 920s and 1930s by W.D. Cromarty, Head of the Architectural and Planning Division, National Parks Service, for use throughout the national parks system. It was probably built to a standard design used for the Aubrey Island Picnic Shelter (FHBRO 93-33). The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter demonstrates Cromarty’s use of milled- wood frame construction as a practical alternative to log construction, achieving a rustic image at minimal cost. The simple, open design is appropriate to its use as a public picnic shelter, permitting a view of the surrounding scenery while providing protection from the elements. The unpartitioned interior space allows for flexible use. Standard components found in the Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter include: a hipped roof with exposed rafter ends, wood support posts with diagonal wood brackets, and a concrete slab foundation. The original railing comprised of crossed timbers has been replaced by a half-wall with horizontal overlapping boards on the exterior and plywood on the interior.

Environmental value:
The Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter reinforces the picturesque character of the setting and is the only structure on an isolated, heavily treed site on an island in the St. Lawrence River. The rustic aesthetic of the shelter is appropriate to this setting. The shelter is conveniently located close to a dock, and is well-known and well- frequented.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the Adelaide Island Picnic Shelter should be respected: Its role as an illustration of the increasing use of national parks during the interwar years is reflected in:
-its relatively isolated location on an island in the St. Lawrence River;
-its simple, functional design, in keeping with its use as a public picnic shelter;

Its rustic aesthetic and conformity to the standard design for national park picnic shelters, as manifested in:
-the open design and unpartitioned interior space;
-the hipped roof, exposed rafters, vertical wood support posts, wood brackets, and concrete slab floor;
-the use of milled-wood frame construction, with roughly finished wood components. The manner in which it reinforces the picturesque, yet accessible character of the setting as evidenced in:
-its island location on a heavily treed site, with a privy and dock nearby.

For guidance on interventions, please refer to the FHBRO Code of Practice. For further information contact FHBRO.
January 2003