Peter MacKinnon Building

Description of the Historic Place

The Peter MacKinnon Building (formerly the College Building) is situated prominently at the head of a landscaped, oval space known as "The Bowl" on the University of Saskatchewan campus. Located on sixteen hectares of the campus grounds, the property features an impressive, 2 ½-storey, stone-clad, Collegiate Gothic-style building that was constructed between 1910 and 1912.

This historic place, located at 105 Administration Place, was designated as a Provincial Heritage Property in 1982, and a National Historic Site in 2001.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Peter MacKinnon Building resides in its status as the first College of Agriculture at a Canadian university. While formal agricultural education had been introduced in eastern Canada in the late nineteenth century, these institutions had only nominal connections to universities. The University of Saskatchewan was the first in Canada to establish an agricultural college on its main campus and give it a status equal to the more traditional colleges, such as the Liberal Arts and Sciences, Medicine, and Law. Knowing the vital role that agriculture was to play in the development of the province, the university founders considered the College of Agriculture a priority over all other colleges and commissioned the Peter MacKinnon Building as the first academic building constructed on the campus. Constructed to house lecture halls, classrooms, and offices for the College of Agriculture, the building's importance was further emphasized in the 1909 master plan, which placed it in its prominent location at the head of what was designed to be an agricultural precinct.

The heritage value of the Peter MacKinnon Building also lies in its Collegiate Gothic architecture, a style symbolic of older, well-established universities. This style was specifically chosen by the university's Board of Governors because of its use on prominent campuses such as McGill and Princeton. As such, they commissioned the Montreal architectural firm of Brown and Vallance because of their expertise in the Collegiate Gothic style. Brown and Vallance were the university architects until 1930, and designed the layout of the campus and its original buildings, including five of its most prominent. This set of five buildings has been called "the finest grouping of Collegiate Gothic university buildings in Canada" and the Peter MacKinnon Building stands as its centrepiece. Its architectural style is evident in its vertical lines and strong symmetrical massing, Gothic fenestration, and decorative motifs. The three oriel windows fronted the library and, later, the President's office, as the building took on a university governance role. Though the original design called for rough-cut Tyndall Stone, local "greystone" was substituted when a plentiful supply was found nearby.

The Heritage value of the Peter MacKinnon Building also lies in the building's association with academic, cultural, and student life at the University of Saskatchewan. The only building on campus in the early years, the Peter MacKinnon Building housed offices for the College of Agriculture and the College of Arts and Science, as well as classrooms, lecture halls, and laboratories for physics, chemistry, animal husbandry, and home economics courses. As the university expanded, the colleges and classes moved to other locations and the building adopted an administrative role, housing student registration, business offices, and the office of the university secretary. A key feature of the building is the Convocation Hall, which is a large assembly hall with a stage and wrap-around balcony that forms the central wing of the E-shaped building. Added at the request of Dean of Agriculture W.J. Rutherford during the design phase, the room was designed to seat 500-600 people as a meeting place for farmers and as a facility for use in extension work. Convocation Hall became the cultural centre of the university campus, hosting convocation ceremonies, dances, concerts, drama productions, societies' meetings and conventions, and class reunions.

Through the City’s Heritage Awards Program, the Peter MacKinnon Building received an award for interior restoration in 2006.

Source: 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:

• Those features that speak to its setting, such its location at the head of the "Bowl," its relationship to the core group of Collegiate Gothic buildings, and the unimpeded view of the front façade; the metal casements, the notched parapet, and the gargoyles which reflect the prairie fauna in the shapes of owls and prairie dogs;
• Those features that illustrate the spatial design of the building, including the E-shaped massing and the main interior corridors and staircases;
• Those features that reflect its role as the academic, ceremonial, and cultural centre of the campus, such as Convocation Hall and its decorative elements, including the chandeliers and wrap-around balcony, the Honor Roll frieze, and the commemorative plaques;
• Its continued function as a community orientated use;
• Its imposing and elaborate appearance representative in its form; and,
• Its Collegiate Gothic style of architecture, evident in: its vertical lines and strong symmetrical massing, Gothic fenestration and decorative motifs, three oriel windows, textured fieldstone walls and contrasting sandstone trim, windows with crossed stone mullions.