Description of Historic Place

The Tin Shop, also known as Building No. 4, located in the Bear Creek Compound faces a large, open yard in a historic, non-operating, placer gold mining facility in the Klondike River valley. This small, rectangular structure has a gabled, corrugated metal roof and is clad with corrugated metal siding. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Tin Shop is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.

Historical Value
The Tin Shop is closely associated with the corporate phase of Yukon’s gold mining history. The building’s close proximity to the Machine Shop, (Buildings 1 and 2), with which it had a close functional relationship, illustrates how trades buildings were required to support mining operations. The Tin Shop is also a very good example of a building that illustrates the development of the Bear Creek Compound as evidenced in its ability to adapt to various functions to meet changing requirements.

Architectural Value
The Tin Shop is a utilitarian structure with a good aesthetic design. The arrangement and detailing of the openings on the front gable end enhance the appearance of the functionally oriented building. Its good function is evidenced by the configuration of its work areas and the visible traces of its functional adaptation. Overall, the building exhibits good workmanship and appropriate use of materials.

Environmental Value
The Tin Shop maintains an unchanged relationship to its site and reinforces the character of its industrial setting at the Bear Creek Compound. The structure is familiar to those within the area.

Sources: Joan Mattie, Bear Creek Industrial Complex, Bear Creek, Yukon Federal Heritage Building Review Office Building Report 89-008; Tin Shop (Building # 4), Bear Creek Compound, Yukon, Heritage Character Statement, 89-008.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Tin Shop should be respected. the simple and functional nature of its design, and its overall good workmanship and appropriate use of materials; the features of its form, construction, and materials that unify it with the site’s other buildings, including its simple rectangular shape, its gable roof, its metal corrugated siding and roof covering, and its rooftop ventilator; the arrangement and detailing of the double doors, the single door, and the windows of the front gable; the visible traces of structural alteration and functional adaptation, such as the west extension; the configuration of its work areas and other vestiges of its former function; its comfortable relationship – due to its form, materials, detailing, and colour scheme – with the other structures and landscape features of the site, in particular the adjacent Machine Shop (Buildings 1 and 2).

Heritage Character Statement

Disclaimer - The heritage character statement was developed by FHBRO to explain the reasons for the designation of a federal heritage building and what it is about the building that makes it significant (the heritage character). It is a key reference document for anyone involved in planning interventions to federal heritage buildings and is used by FHBRO in their review of interventions.

The Tin Shop (Building #4) was constructed in 1918 by the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation (YCGC) to replace an earlier building destroyed by fire. It is part of the Bear Creek industrial complex, a service facility for the YCGC's gold mining operations. Although its original function is not known, it was used at one time for the production of welding gas. When the YCGC constructed a new Gas House (Building #5) in 1946, Building #4 became the Tin Shop. It was then used for sheet metal fabrication, metal turning, and possibly plumbing and gauge repair, and its functions were closely linked with those of the adjacent Machine Shop (Buildings #1 and #2). Operations at the Bear Creek complex ceased in 1966, and the property was acquired by Parks Canada, the present custodian, in 1975.

Reasons for designation

The Tin Shop (Building #4) is a 'Recognized' Federal Heritage Building because of its historical, architectural, and environmental values:

As part of the Bear Creek complex, the Tin Shop is associated with the corporate phase of
Yukon's gold mining history. Its close proximity to the Machine Shop (Buildings #1 and #2), with which it had a close functional relationship, illustrates how trades buildings were required to support mining operations. In addition, as an older building that has been modified and used for different functions, it exemplifies the adaptation of site's structures to meet changing requirements.

The Tin Shop is simple and functional in design, and exhibits good workmanship and appropriate use of materials. Its one-storey rectangular form, which includes a shed extension on the west side, is clad with corrugated metal siding, and its gable roof is covered with corrugated metal and topped by a boxed ventilator. Its front gable end possesses a set of double doors, a single door, and three windows. The interior has been stripped of its tools and equipment, but traces of the former working pattern remain.

The Tin Shop reinforces the industrial character of this functionally obsolete but remarkably intact village-like mining service facility, with its 80 structures and several landscape features relating to large-scale mechanical placer mining. Like the site's other main buildings, it faces the open yard. It is located on the south side and, although set back considerably, is a conspicuous part of the ensemble of trade buildings, and enjoys a functional and visual link with the Machine Shop (Buildings #1 and #2).

Character-defining elements

The following character-defining elements of the Tin Shop should be respected:
· The simple and functional nature of its design, and its overall good workmanship and appropriate use of
materials.
· The features of its form, construction, and materials that unify it with the site's other buildings, including its
simple rectangular shape, its gable roof, its metal corrugated siding and roof covering, and its rooftop
ventilator.
· The arrangement and detailing of the double doors, the single door, and the windows of the front gable.
· The visible traces of structural alteration and functional adaptation, such as the west extension.
· The configuration of its work areas and other vestiges of its former function.
· Its comfortable relationship ' due to its form, materials, detailing, and colour scheme ' with the other
structures and landscape features of the site, in particular the adjacent Machine Shop (Buildings #1 and #2).