Description of Historic Place

Part of the Dawson Historical Complex National Historic Site of Canada, the KTM Building, also known as the Klondike Thawing Machine Company Building, is situated on the main thoroughfare leading from Dawson to the gold-rich creeks. The single-storey, rectangular structure features a decorative Boomtown, white-painted retail façade with black signage lettering, large retail windows and a double door entrance. The sides and roof are clad with corrugated metal. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The KTM Building is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value
The KTM Building is closely associated with Dawson City’s role as a supply service and distribution centre for the mining community during the Yukon Gold Rush. The building was constructed as a single-storey warehouse with a loft space for the Dawson Transfer and Storage Company, a mining equipment supply and transport company. The building was modified in 1904 to serve as a grocery warehouse. The structure is also associated with many of the town’s leading commercial businesses and their owners including, most importantly, the Klondike Thawing Machine Company and its owner, George Frederick Johnson.

Architectural Value
The KTM Building is valued for its good aesthetic design and is a rare surviving example of a small to medium sized outfitter’s warehouse of the Gold Rush period from 1897-1906. The structure exhibits good functional design in its interior volumes, structural framing and unpainted lateral and rear elevations. These functional design elements are typical of boomtown architectural treatment.

Environmental Value
The KTM Building reinforces the present character of its commercial streetscape setting in Dawson City and is a familiar landmark to residents and visitors.

Sources: The Klondike Thawing Machine Building, Third Avenue, Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Report Notes 88-012; The Klondike Thawing Machine Building Avenue (KTM Building), Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Heritage Character Statement 88-012.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the KTM Building should be respected.

Its boomtown commercial warehouse design, for example:
- the single-storey massing of the gable roofed structure;
- the timber construction with corrugated metal siding and roof;
- the painted, decorative, two-and-a-half-bay-retail façade with large retail windows, double entrance door and single door to the side, and its irregular arrangement of large retail windows;
- the fenestration and half-glazed and panelled wood doors, awnings and double-hung windows to the sides and sliding door to the rear;
- the stained vertical board and batten construction of the rear elevation;
- the functional interior configuration of front retail space subdivided from the warehouse area to the rear by a wood partition.

The manner in which the KTM Building reinforces the present character of its commercial streetscape setting and is a familiar landmark, as evidenced by:
- its relationship to the surrounding retail stores, hotels, and bars;
- its form, materials and details, particularly on the street frontage, which reinforce nearby historic buildings;
- its familiarity to residents of Dawson City and to visitors to the Dawson Historical Complex National Historic Site of Canada.