Description of Historic Place

The Bear Creek Compound, Auto Repair Shop, Building #7 faces a large, open yard in a historic, non-operating, placer gold mining facility in the Klondike River valley. The building is a large, rectangular, wood-frame structure clad in corrugated metal siding with a rear section clad in horizontal wood siding. Both sections are topped by a metal-covered gable roof. The front gable has two pairs of large double doors with diagonal boards and large horseshoe hinges. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Bear Creek Compound, Auto Repair Shop, Building #7 is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.

Historical Value
The Bear Creek Compound, Auto Repair Shop, Building #7, as part of the Bear Creek Complex, is associated with the corporate phase of Yukon’s gold mining history, and more particularly the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation’s (YCGC) renewal and expansion program of the 1930s. The building’s role in the maintenance and repair of the automobiles and trucks used for the YCGC’s placer gold mining operations was one of the key functions of the site, and confirmed the change from horses to motor vehicles after 1919.

Architectural Value
The Bear Creek Compound, Auto Repair Shop, Building #7 is valued for its good, simple aesthetic. Its functional design consists of a rectangular structure with a large, open work area in the front and a parts room with two floors at the rear. The building’s good workmanship is demonstrated in its wood-frame construction clad in the appropriate materials such as the corrugated metal and horizontal wood siding and the metal, gable roof.

Environmental Value
The Bear Creek Compound, Auto Repair Shop, Building #7 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 immediate area.

Sources:
Joan Mattie, Bear Creek Industrial Complex, Bear Creek, Yukon Federal Heritage Building Review Office Building Report 89-008; Auto Repair Shop (Building #7), Bear Creek Compound, Yukon, Heritage Character Statement, 89-008.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Bear Creek Compound, Auto Repair Shop, Building #7 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 the corrugated metal siding of its front section, the horizontal wood siding-painted grey with white trim-of its rear section, its metal-covered gable roof, and its wood-frame structure; the arrangement of its windows and doors, and its double doors with diagonal boards and large horseshoe hinges; the functional configuration of the open work area and the two-storey parts room at the rear; the interior details that testify to its function as a repair and maintenance shop for automobiles and trucks, such as its reinforced concrete floor, its hoist, and the arrangement of its workbenches; 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 other trade buildings nearby, such as the Machine Shop (Buildings #1 and #2) and the Cat Repair Shop (Building #8) on either side of it.

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 Auto Repair Shop (Building #7) was constructed in 1937 by the Yukon Consolidate Gold Corporation (YCGC) as part of a renewal and expansion program at the Bear Creek industrial complex, a service facility for the YCGC's mining operations. It replaced an earlier automobile repair shop, and provided space for the repair and maintenance of motor vehicles and small engines. 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 Auto Repair Shop is a 'Recognized' Federal Heritage Building because of its historical, architectural, and environmental values:

As part of the Bear Creek complex, the Auto Repair Shop is associated with the corporate phase of Yukon's gold mining history, and more particularly the YCGC's renewal and expansion program of the 1930s. Its role in the maintenance and repair of the automobiles and trucks used for the YCGC's placer gold mining operations was one of the key functions of the site, and confirmed the change from horses to motor vehicles after 1919. By 1936, there were 12 pick-up trucks, four dump trucks, four freight trucks, and three automobiles on the inventory of the Bear Creek complex.

The Auto Repair Shop is simple and functional in design, and exhibits good workmanship and appropriate use of materials. Its large rectangular form is composed of a one-storey section clad in corrugated metal siding at the front of the building, and a two-storey rear section (possibly a later addition), clad with horizontal wood siding, painted grey, with white trim. Both sections are surmounted with a metal-covered roof. The front gable, which faces the open yard, has two pairs of large double doors with diagonal boards, and the rear gable has a single door at grade and two windows on the upper level; both have high ventilator grilles. Windows and side doors are arranged in a regular pattern along the side elevations. The building has a wood-frame structure and a concrete floor slab. Inside, the large work area is equipped with workbenches, a hoist, a compressor, and three cranes. Tools and parts were stored in the two-storey rear portion of the building.

The Auto Repair Shop reinforces the industrial character of the 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 large open yard. It is located on the south side, near the entrance, and enjoys functional and visual links with the other trade buildings, in particular the Machine Shop (Buildings # 1 and 2) and the Cat Repair Shop (Building #8).

Character-defining elements

The following character-defining elements of the Auto Repair 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 the
corrugated metal siding of its front section, the horizontal wood siding, painted grey with white trim, of its
rear section, its metal-covered gable roof, and its wood-frame structure.
· The arrangement of its windows and doors, and its double doors with diagonal boards and large horseshoe
hinges.
· The functional configuration of the open work area and the two-storey parts room at the rear.
· The interior details that testify to its function as a repair and maintenance shop for automobiles and trucks,
such as its reinforced concrete floor, its hoist, and the arrangement of its workbenches.
· 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 other trade buildings nearby, such as the
Machine Shop (Buildings #1 and #2) and the Cat Repair Shop (Building #8) on either side of it.