In 1869, the Kaitakushi, the development commission and government of Hokkaidō prefecture, was established to pioneer the primitive ground of Hokkaidō, and its main office was moved to Sapporo in 1871. An American advisor to the Development Commission, Horace Capron, planned to construct the building for the Kaitakushi office with an octagonal dome topping on the building, which was popular architectural style in the United States at that time. The building, named as the , was built in 1873, and was then one of the largest buildings in Japan. It was destroyed by fire in 1879.