Building E-108

Building E-108, also known as the Museum, is located at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Borden in an administrative and support sector of the base. The building is a long, one-storey structure with a plan in the form of a modified “H”. It has a gable roof and is clad in asbestos shingles. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Building E-108 is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical value

Building E-108 is associated with the expansion of the Canadian Armed Forces and its facilities during the Second World War. Its location at CFB Borden reflects the large-scale development of the base as a major military installation for personnel training, assembly and field-testing of both the army and the air force. Building E-108 originally served as a mess hall.

Architectural value

Building E-108 is a representative example of thousands of temporary wooden buildings constructed as barracks, training or administrative facilities in the Second World War. It is a modified version of the “H”-hut, a structure that resulted from a program instigated in June 1940 to replace tentage at CFB Borden with temporary huts. Temporary buildings, such as building E-108, were notable for the new construction technology they employed, including standardized plans, prefabricated units and assembly-line construction methods that were pioneered or refined during this time. As such, Building E-108 exhibits a good utilitarian aesthetic design. It also displays very good, flexible functional design, demonstrating an easily adaptable space where sleeping and messing wings were connected to existing ablution huts or kitchens. Numerous large windows allow for a great deal of natural light into the interior space. Good craftsmanship and materials are noted in its simple asbestos shingle cladding and its asphalt shingle roof.

Environmental value

Building E-108 reinforces the administrative and supportive sector of the base, which is characterized by a number of wartime frame constructions of various configurations. The building is a familiar landmark at the base.

Sources: Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Research Notes, Building E-108, 94-088; Heritage Character Statement 94-088.

The character-defining elements of Building E-108 should be respected.

Its very good functional design and good craftsmanship and materials, for example:

- its recognizable “H” shaped one-storey massing and gable roof;

- its numerous windows, which allow for an abundance of natural light and air circulation in the interior;

- its basic functional cladding.

The manner in which the Building E-108 reinforces the administrative and supportive sector of the base and is a local landmark as evidenced in:

- its design, scale and materials which are well-matched with the surrounding temporary wartime structures that define the area;

- its use as a military museum, reinforced by its location next to the Major-General F.F. Worthington Memorial Park, make it a well known building at CFB Borden.