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Online Heritage Inventory

Hepworth Block

General Information
Thumbnail photograph of Hepworth Block
Click to see full image
Type of Resource: Building
Common Name: Hepworth Block
Address: 3580 Moncton Street
Neighbourhood (Planning Area Name): Steveston
Construction Date: circa 1913
Current Owner: Private
Designated: No

Statement of Significance
Description of Site
The Hepworth Block is a three-storey, rectangular brick building sited flush to the sidewalk on a prominent corner of Steveston’s commercial district at Moncton and Second Avenue. The building encompasses three storefronts along Moncton Street. The neighbouring buildings are smaller-scaled and contrast with the massing of the Hepworth Block.

 Statement of Values
This building’s primary heritage significance is its historical value as part of the commercial development of Moncton Street, and its value as a Steveston landmark. It is good example of a simple commercial and residential building of the early twentieth century. Its brick construction, said to be ships ballast, gives it a functional and aesthetic durability which has endured through various periods of change within the Steveston town centre, and enabled the building to survive the 1918 Steveston fire. Its landmark status is emphasized by the scale and material of surrounding buildings, all of which are smaller and primarily wood frame.

 Character Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the site include:
· Its prominent location at the intersection of Moncton Street and 2nd Avenue and as part of the continuous Moncton streetscape
· Its commercial building style as demonstrated by its elegant brick building material, horizontal massing, windows, its size and its height, all of which contribute to its landmark status on Moncton Street.

 History
The Hepworth Block is a three-storey, rectangular brick building sited flush to the sidewalk on a prominent corner of Steveston’s commercial district at Moncton and Second Avenue. The building encompasses three storefronts along Moncton Street. The neighbouring buildings are smaller-scaled and contrast with the massing of the Hepworth Block.

 Architectural Significance
Architectural Style
Undefined.

 Building Type
Commercial.

 Design Features
This is an elegant brick building with a projecting, flat roof. It has a plain, metal cornice with simple brackets. A plain, wooden frieze separates the main wall from the roof elements. The brick is laid in the stretcher style. The upper windows are wooden, double-hung and painted green to match the cornice and frieze. The lower windows are large, plate glass style common to small-scale retail stores. The store fronts are defined by a lower frieze and cornice, cut close to the building’s profile. There is panelling below and to the sides of each store-front window

 Landscape Significance
(No information available)

 Integrity
Alterations
Alterations include interior changes (new drywall, new flooring, lowered ceilings) and exterior changes (window reproductions, door replacements). A closer look at the side elevation shows that at some time, a door or opening and a window were bricked in. As well, there may have been an awning attached to the brick work above the side door.

 Original Location
Unclear. There is a reference in earlier research documents to the store fronts having been relocated.

 Condition
The building appears to be in good condition.

 Lost
No

 Documentation
Evaluated By
Julie MacDonald (Julie MacDonald Heritage Consulting)

 Date
Tuesday, February 15, 2000

 Documentation
Documentation: “Heritage Inventory, Phase II” by Foundation Group Designs, May 1989. Inventory Sheets by Diana Bodnar (Foundation Group), January 1989

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