Hutchinson Building

Description of the Historic Place

The Hutchinson Building features a two-storey, brick-clad commercial building in the City’s downtown. 

This historic place, located at 144 2nd Avenue South, was designated as a Municipal Heritage Property in 1999. The designation is limited to the front façade of the building.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Hutchinson Building lies in the design of its façade and the work of prominent Saskatoon architect, Frank P. Martin. Built in 1923, the Hutchinson Building exhibits durability and permanence in its brick façade complemented by a symmetrical accent of Tyndall Stone. The full and half pilasters with quoining, central pediment and subdued cornice, display the modern Classical style which was popularized during the 1920s. Large plate glass windows at the street level for the display of store items reflect its commercial use. Vertical transom lighting above the display windows and the double-hung windows with stone sills on the second-storey, further embellish the façade.

The heritage value of the Hutchinson Building also resides in its association with the commercial development of Saskatoon. When a huge fire on December 18, 1922 destroyed the Saskatoon Hardware Store along with most other buildings on the block, the immediate announcement of reconstruction spelled optimism for downtown Saskatoon which was already impacted by a post-World War I economic downturn. The name of the store owner, J. L. Stanley Hutchinson, founder of the Retail Merchants’ Association and of a commercial fire insurance plan for Saskatchewan, is inscribed on a broad triangular pediment above the building. The new home for the hardware store was hailed as fully fireproof with the latest Grinnell Sprinkler System of fire protection. The Hutchinson Building remained as a hardware store until 1970. The building later became home of the popular Saskatoon Handicraft Supplies store until 1995. Today, the Hutchinson Building continues to be used for commercial and residential use.

 Source: City of Saskatoon Bylaw No.7866 / City of Saskatoon Built Heritage Database / Canadian Register of Historic Places

Character Defining Elements

Key elements which contribute to the heritage value of this historic resource include:

• The quoining on the stone pilasters, low-relief capitals, transom lights, belt course, double-hung upper windows with stone sills, and its subdued cornice and pediments; and
• The architect’s etched name, Frank P. Martin; the upper pediment bearing the name “Hutchinson;” the Grinnell Sprinkler drainpipe near the base of the building; and the flagpole at its top.