West Grenadier Island Pavilion

The West Grenadier Island Pavilion is located on a high elevation in a wooded island overlooking the riverfront in the St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada. The octagonal, single-storey wooden structure has an octagonal, hipped roof with large gabled dormers supported at the perimeter by stone piers. The dormers are finished in clapboard siding. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

The West Grenadier Island Pavilion is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value

The West Grenadier Island Pavilion is closely associated with the development of Canada’s national park system and early Canadian tourism. It is also one of the best examples of a building associated with the development of recreational facilities by the federal government at the beginning of the 20th century as a result of increased public demands. The Pavilion, constructed in 1904, is one of the oldest picnic shelters in the national parks system. The area was later established as St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada in 1914.

Architectural Value

The West Grenadier Island Pavilion is a very good example of the picturesque aesthetic used for recreational facilities in urban and suburban parks during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The West Grenadier Island Pavilion retains many original features, which reinforce the picturesque aesthetic. The heavy, stone piers are in keeping with the dominant national park vocabulary of the period. Very good functional design is seen in the interior configuration, while good craftsmanship is evidenced in the masonry.

Environmental Value

The pavilion reinforces the picturesque character of Grenadier Island and is a familiar landmark within the park.

Sources: Kate MacFarlane, Twenty Eight Buildings, St. Lawrence Islands National Park, Ontario, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, Reports 93-023 through 93-038; West Grenadier Island Pavilion, St. Lawrence Islands National Park, Heritage Character Statement 93-028.

The following character-defining elements of the West Grenadier Island Pavilion should be respected.

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

- its direct aesthetic connections to urban park amenities of the period;

- the octagonal hipped roof and decorative, wooden rafter ends;

- the large, gabled dormers clad in clapboard siding;

- the slender, wooden columns at front and rear entry point;

- the low, wooden railings with evenly spaced pickets;

- the heavy, slightly rough, granite piers.

The manner in which it reinforces the picturesque character of the setting as evidenced in:

- its remote location on a high elevation and heavily treed site, overlooking the St. Lawrence River.