The Allen Sapp Gallery. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

NB council

City looks at provincial heritage designation for Allen Sapp Gallery

Jan 24, 2024 | 2:39 PM

The Allen Sapp Gallery that currently has municipal heritage designation may soon have provincial heritage property designation also.

Bruce Dawson, with the Heritage Conservation Branch of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Parks Culture and Sport, brought forward the proposal to North Battleford city council as a delegation at Monday’s meeting.

The province is interested in seeing the Allen Sapp Gallery “join that exclusive club of provincial heritage properties,” he said, adding that only 56 sites in Saskatchewan can boast this designation.

Dawson noted the designation comes with several benefits. It includes a plaque, inclusion in the province’s online registers, and the ability to use the unique provincial heritage property icon for marketing purposes.

If the city is interested in pursuing provincial heritage designation for the site, the review process would usually take a few months.

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The building, dating back to the early 1900s, was previously the North Battleford Public Library before later turning into the art gallery that celebrates the work of Indigenous artist Allen Sapp.

Allen Sapp Gallery’s history of the site states international philanthropist Andrew Carnegie contributed $56 million in grants around the world to construct public libraries that were available from the Carnegie Foundation from 1866 to 1917. In 1916 the City of North Battleford applied for one of these grants to cover the cost to build what would be the city’s first public library. The building was later transformed into the Allen Sapp Gallery in 1989 after undergoing some interior renovations.

Dawson said this building is the only site remaining in Saskatchewan that was funded through the Carnegie Foundation grants.

He noted the main reasons the site should be designated a provincial heritage property are its association with the Carnegie Foundation, the architecture reflects library building design of its era, and its association with Cree painter Allen Sapp. Some of the interesting components of the building design and history are its brick and stone exterior, its large windows, features associated with Carnegie library design, its historic plaques and signage, and the surrounding greenspace.

Dawson said there aren’t many drawbacks to gaining provincial heritage status, particularly in this situation.

“You guys are already doing the job. You’ve already designated the property a municipal heritage property. You’re managing it as a heritage resource and you’re taking care of it to steward. Sometimes that’s when we run into challenges, when an owner hasn’t been involved in a heritage process…They think there are lots of regulations… But you guys are already down that path, so I see very few challenges that we would have.”

He noted there is also another big plus for the city to have provincial heritage designation for the site.

“It will help you keep up with the Town of Battleford,” he said. “They’ve got three provincial heritage [designations] over there.”

If council wishes to seek provincial heritage designation for the site, next it would need to work with Leah Garven, the curator and manager of galleries for the City of North Battleford and the Allen Sapp Gallery, to complete a provincial heritage property nomination form. Then, the nomination would be reviewed by the Heritage Conservation Branch and the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation Board, before finally being reviewed and approved by the Saskatchewan Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport.

City administration will return to council with a recommendation to pursue the provincial heritage designation for the structure.

“It will come back to council, likely in February, as to what they wish to do with that building,” City Manager Randy Patrick said. “It is an amazing building when you think of the history behind it. The Carnegie Foundation helped build that, and that makes it very special.”

City of North Battleford Deputy Mayor Kent Lindgren sees the provincial heritage designation as a positive addition for the city.

“I think what Mr. Dawson said this evening [that resonated] with me is that we are already treating it with that respect,” Lindgren said. “We know the significance of that building to the initial stages of our building and development, but also what it means now. When we take it and look at that building, not just recognizing a local artist but what the city has done in recognizing an Indigenous artist is also important.”

He added the city’s galleries curator has often noted there are very few museums and galleries that recognize an Indigenous artist at this level anywhere in Canada, especially ones that are municipally funded.

“We are already doing that, and we know the significance of that building and what it means historically, but currently too,” Lindgren said. “I think that is an important part about what that heritage designation is about.”

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW