Description of Historic Place

The Shelter, located on Beaurivage Island, lies within in the St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada. Constructed in the rustic style, this rectangular, single-storey wooden picnic shelter is open-sided on three sides while a wall pierced by two windows encloses the rear of the structure. Wooden posts at the perimeter support a hipped roof, while the building has an open interior space. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

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

Historical value
The Beaurivage Island 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 Saint Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada, eastern Canada’s first national park. The Beaurivage Island Shelter was built in response to a perceived need for additional facilities.

Architectural value
The Beaurivage Island 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 Canada’s national park system, which was thought to complement the natural setting, and reflected the picturesque aesthetic consistent with National Parks’ tradition. The Beaurivage Island Shelter demonstrates the use of milled-wood frame construction as a more economical alternative to log construction, achieving a rustic image at minimal cost. Good functional design is evidenced in the open interior, while good craftsmanship is evidenced in the woodwork.

Environmental value
The Beaurivage Island Shelter maintains an unchanged relationship to its site, is compatible with the picturesque character of Beaurivage 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; Beaurivage Island Picnic Shelter, St. Lawrence Islands National Park, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement 93-037.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the Beaurivage Island Shelter should be respected.

Its rustic aesthetic and conformity to standard designs for national park picnic shelters, as manifested in: the simple, open design and unpartitioned interior space; in keeping with its role as a public picnic shelter; the hipped roof, exposed rafters, vertical wood support posts, wood brackets, low surrounding railing at the front of the structure, and concrete slab floor; the use of milled-wood frame construction.

Its unusual design features, as manifested in: the enclosed space pierced by two windows at the rear of the structure.

The manner in which it reinforces the picturesque, yet accessible character of the setting as evidenced in: its location on Beaurivage Island; the compatibility of the building’s rustic form, natural materials and rustic detailing with the picturesque setting; the unchanged relationship with the site, in particular its sitting on a remote, wooded island, with a privy and a dock nearby.

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

Historical value:
The Beaurivage Island Picnic Shelter is associated with the establishment of national parks through the subtheme of growth of the parks in the 1950s. At St. Lawrence Islands National Park (SLINP), this necessitated the construction of additional recreational amenities, including picnic shelters and docks.

Architectural value:
The Beaurivage Island Picnic Shelteris a good example of the late rustic aesthetic devised by W. D. Cromarty during the 1920s and 1930s for Parks buildings. It also illustrates Cromarty’s use of milled-wood frame construction as a practical alternative to log construction, achieving a rustic image at minimal cost. The Beaurivage Island Picnic Shelter differs from other SLI N P picnic shelters in the enclosure of its rear wall, while standard components include a hip roof, exposed rafters, vertical support posts with wood brackets, and concrete slab foundation. The structure deviates from the 1929 plan in the shape of the overall structure, the shape and finishing of the enclosed area, and the design of the railing.

Environmental value:
The Beaurivage Island Picnic Shelter is the only structure, with the exception of a nearby privy, on a wooded site, on an island in the St. Lawrence River. The rustic character of the shelter is appropriate to this setting. This well-known and well-used shelter is conveniently located near a dock.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the Beaurivage Island Picnic Shelter should be respected:

Its role as an illustration of the vast increase in the number of visitors to national parks during the postwar period is reflected in:
-its simple open, design, in keeping with its role as a public picnic shelter.
Its rustic aesthetic and conformity to standard designs 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, low surrounding railing at the front of the structure, and concrete slab floor;
Its unusual design features, as manifested in:
-the enclosed space at the rear of the structure.

The manner in which it reinforces the picturesuqe, yet accessible character of the setting as evidenced in:
-its location on a remote, wooded site, on an island, with a privy and a dock nearby.

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