Portage la Prairie Dominion Post Office Building
97 Saskatchewan Avenue,
Portage la Prairie

Designation Date: January 8, 1990
Designation Authority: The City of Portage la Prairie
Present Owner: The City of Portage la Prairie

The former Dominion Post Office was designed by one of Canada’s foremost architects and the designer of Canada’s first Parliament Buildings, Thomas Fuller. The Portage la Prairie building is an example of Fuller’s interpretation of the Romanesque Revival style. The 2-½ storey hammer-faced limestone building features a steep mansard roof and central gable. Originally, the ground floor housed the Post Office while the upper floor held the Customs and Revenue Office.

Political controversy in Ottawa delayed construction, but the building was finally opened in 1898. In 1920 an addition was made on the south side. The building became the Portage la Prairie City Hall in 1960 and has provided spaces over the years for the Magistrate’s Court, Youth Court, RCMP detachment (with its jail cells), library and arts centre.