Visitor Information Centre East

The Visitor Information Centre East sits in a parkland setting above the mouth of the Upper Salmon River. It is a one-and-a-half storey, gable-roofed structure with exterior walls of fieldstone. Its basic rectangular plan is enlivened by front and rear projections while the roof features dormer windows of different sizes. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

The Visitor Information Centre East is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value

The Visitor Information Centre East is associated with Fundy National Park of Canada, the first National Park of New Brunswick. The Visitor Information Centre East is the control centre for the park management and administration.

Architectural Value

The Visitor Information Centre East is a very good example of the English cottage vernacular style. Its limited use of bold materials and construction methods established a design theme for subsequent park buildings. Built in a modest, domestic scale, as the central focus of the administration area, the building exhibits a high standard of materials and workmanship.

Environmental Value

Surrounded by lawns the Visitor Information Centre East maintains an unchanged relationship to its site. Its English-cottage vernacular style reinforces the picturesque, rustic parkland setting. The building is a familiar landmark to those who working in, and visiting the Park and the nearby Assembly Hall.

Sources: Shannon Ricketts, Assembly Hall and Administration Building, Fundy National Park, New Brunswick; Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Report 87-106 and 87-107; Administration Building, Fundy National Park, New Brunswick. Heritage Character Statement 87-106.

The character-defining elements of the Visitor Information Centre East should be respected.

Its English cottage vernacular design and good quality materials and craftsmanship, for example:

- the one-and-a-half-storey rectangular massing with its the steeply-pitched gabled roof, stone chimney and dormer windows of different sizes;

- the central entrance porch created by the extension of the roof over the entrance, the three-bay front façade, and the gable-ended extensions to the front and rear;

- the stone facing on all the exterior walls;

- the original six-over-six windows and wood trim and the large multi-pane window.

The manner in which the Visitor Information Centre East maintains an unchanged relationship to its site, reinforces the picturesque parkland setting, and is a familiar landmark as evidenced by:

- the building’s picturesque design and location in an open setting which in turn emphasizes the rustic nature of the setting;

- the ongoing relationship of the building to its open site surrounded by lawns and trees;

- its visible location and function that make it a point of reference.