Léger Pharmacie
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
The Léger Pharmacy is a small one storey commercial trading house building with semi-circular façade parapets that was built in 1910 to house Acadian Pharmacy (Pharmacie Acadienne). The building is located in the business district of the town on the north side of Main Street.
HERITAGE VALUE
The heritage value of the Léger Pharmacy as a local historic place lies in its association with Acadian pharmacists in Shediac and throughout Canada for more than three quarters of a century, from 1906 to 1984. The building originally housed Acadia Drugs (la pharmacie acadienne ), owned by brothers Raymond and Georges Léger. In 1909, Georges Léger was the first Acadian to graduate from the Collège des Pharmaciens du Nouveau-Brunswick. The Léger Pharmacy was the first pharmacy in Shediac to be owned by a Francophone and serve its customers in their own language. It was the only pharmacy of its kind in southeastern New Brunswick, with the exception of Moncton. Joseph Goguen was the owner of the Léger Pharmacy from 1962 until the 1980s. Since 1984, the building, which is now owned by pharmacist Pierre LeBlanc, has housed various businesses.
The heritage value of the Léger Pharmacy also lies in the importance of its designer. The plans and specifications were designed by well known architect René Fréchet of Moncton. Erected in 1910, this one storey brick building has a modest size of 40 feet by 40 feet. The façade of the building, with its trading house style and parapet, is a good example of how urban architecture was introduced in small growing towns in the early 20th century.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
The character defining elements associated with the Léger Pharmacy include:
- location in the business district of the town;
- brick façade;
- recessed access doors;
- parapet of the main façade;
- ornamental patterns formed by the placement of the bricks on the façade;
- arches that break the roof line;
- round windows;
- fireplace in the pharmacist’s office;
- original concrete cellar.
From Historic Places Canada