With scaffolding in place and crews busy at work, a lot is happening outside the Weyburn Courthouse. This isn’t just routine maintenance, however. The work is part of a crucial project to maintain one of Weyburn’s most significant heritage buildings in pristine condition for generations to come.
The maintenance project, detailed in a written statement from the provincial Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement, is a partial repointing of the exterior masonry of the 97-year-old building. Repointing is the process of removing deteriorated mortar, replacing damaged bricks, and then installing new mortar. The project has two primary goals. The first is to preserve what is known as the building envelope while ensuring its functional integrity, and the other is to maintain the historic appearance of the brick and mortar.
The work officially got underway on July 18th. It is expected to be completed by the fall of this year.
This is the latest work to be done on the historic building. Constructed in the Colonial Revival style, the courthouse was designed by provincial architect Maurice Sharon, and it was constructed in 1928. The building was meant to represent the region’s prosperity ahead of the Great Depression, which started the following year.
The red brick and Tyndall stone trim is part of the style inspired by the restoration of Williamsburg, Virginia, and was one of 10 courthouses in the province designed in that style by Sharon. The symmetrical design and the prominent cupola are part of the defining features of the designs by Sharon, but the gabled ends of the courthouse were unique to Weyburn, with the design feature not seen at the other nine he designed.
The building was designated a provincial heritage property in February of 1988. After work was done inside the building in 2012, the courthouse was transitioned to a circuit court in 2016. Then, in 2022, it was reopened as a Court of King’s Bench Judicial Centre.