View is northwest from the southeast corner of 18th Street and Louise Avenue. Photograph shows the Citizens' Science Building, the Brandon College Building, Clark Hall and two H-Huts, as well as the land to the south of the buildings. The Original Music Building is partially visible in the background.
BRANDON COLLEGE BUILDING
The construction of the Brandon College Building, also known as the Original Building, was primarily financed by Mr. and Mrs. William Davies, a Toronto based Baptist meat packer, and his sister Mrs. Emily Davies, also of Toronto, who pledged $5,000 a year for five years to the new Baptist College. Four city blocks between 18th and 20th streets were purchased for the College campus and the tender of Messrs. T.M. Harrington of Winnipeg was accepted in the spring of 1900; Mr. Hugh McCowan of Winnipeg appointed as architect. Mrs. Davies laid the cornerstone for the Brandon College Building on July 13, 1900.
The Brandon College Building was conceived as a substantial five story brick structure with a stone basement. The Tyndall Manitoba quarries, located thrity miles northeast of Winnipeg, supplied the stone and presented the College with the stone steps at the main entrance. The basement contained the dining room, kitchen, laundry, furnace room, a science laboratory, and maids' rooms. The first floor housed the reception room, office, library, four classrooms and the teachers' cloak rooms. The second floor had five classrooms, a reading room, five rooms for resident students and a resident teacher. Teachers' rooms and seventeen rooms for students comprised the third floor; and additional thirteen rooms for residents took up the fourth floor. The residence was to house 70 men. The total cost of the building and furnishings was $44,000. The Brandon College Building was ready for occupancy by October 1, 1901.
CLARK HALL
The cornerstone of Clark Hall was laid by Mrs. A.P. McDiarmid, wife of the Principal of Brandon College, on May 24, 1906. The residence was officially opened on Thanksgiving Day, October 18, of the same year. The construction of the building grew our of a demand for a ladies' college. A canvass made in Eastern Canada had resulted in subscriptions totaling $10,000. When Dr. McDiarmid reported the results of the canvass to the Chairman of the Board, Dr. C.W. Clark of Winnipeg, Clark proposed that he and his wife be allowed to provided the balance of the funds, some $30,000. While presenting the building at the opening ceremony, Clark stated that the reason for his donation was his belief in the power of cultured womanhood - he believed "that refined and Christian mothers were the strength of a nation and that he wished to see in Brandon a chool of learning for women in which every Christian virtue and grace might be illustrated."
Clark Hall was built immediately north of the Brandon College Building and was connected to it by classrooms and the iron door with its door bell, which was rung by gentlemen before being admitted. It is a five story brick building, with fittings of imported Georgia pine. In the basement was the gymnasium, studios and maids' rooms. On the main floor was a spacious reception room furnished by the Honorable A.C. Rutherford, the Premier of Alberta and the Lady Principal's suite, furnished by Mrs. N. Wolverston, wife of the treaurer of the College Board. Music studios and the offices of the resident matron were also on the main floor. The second and third floors were dormitories. The fourth floor was meant to be art studios, but due to registration demands, it was divided into students' rooms. The residence was designed to house fifty students and seven teachers. Piano practice areas were also designated on the west side of the building and on the groundlevel half way between the basement and the first floor.
BRANDON COLLEGE BUILDING AND CLARK HALL RESTORATION PROJECT
By the early 1990s, it was clear that major reconstruction work on the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall was necessary if the buildings were to remain in use. The alternative was to demolish both buildings and construct a new central administrative structure for the campus. Because of the historic character of the two original campus buildings, the decision was taken to mount a complete restoration of the structures that involved a complete removal of everything except for the surrounding brick fascade and the construction of new buildings within the old external walls. This project was financed by the Provincial government of Manitoba, who granted the University approximatley 10 million dollars. The Chief Architect for the restoration was George Cibinal. Work began in 1996 and was completed by the fall of 1997. In addition to the restoration of the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall, a new entrance was built on the west side of the buildings, as well as an addition to Clark Hall, which included a skywalk connecting it to the A.E. McKenzie Building.
Scope and Content
Sub-series consists of photographs of the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall.
Notes
History/Bio information was taken from Brandon College: A History, 1899-1967 by C.G. Stone and F. Joan Garnett (Brandon, Manitoba: Brandon University, 1969), chapters 2 and 3. Tom Mitchell provided history/bio information on the restoration project.
View is east northeast from the sidewalk on the southeast corner of the George T. Richardson Centre (John R. Robbins Library). Photographs shows the campus during winter, including the Physical Plant and Development H-Huts, as well as the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall after the majority of the renovations were completed.
View is southwest from 18th Street, just north of the Brandon University sign. Tken during the summer, the photograph shows the front lawn, a portion of the flower bed, the Citizens' Science Building, the Knowles Douglas Students' Union Centre, the John R. Brodie Science Centre and McMaster Hall.
View is northeast. Photograph shows the green space before the Library extension in 1993. Brandon College Building and the Development H-Hut in the background.
View is northwest from the roof of the John R. Brodie Science Centre. Photograph shows part of McMaster Hall, the H-Huts, the Citzens' Science Building, the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall, the driveway, the J.R.C. Evans Lecture Theatre, the A.E. McKenzie Building and the Queen Elizabeth II Music Building.
View is northwest from the sidewalk on the west side of 18th Street. Photograph shows the John R. Brodie Science Centre sign, McMaster Hall and its entrance, the lawn in from of McMaster Hall, a portion of the Knowles Douglas Students' Union Centre and the Citizens' Science Building.
View is southwest from the corner of Clark Hall and the Clark Hall extension. Photograph shows students entering and exiting the George T. Richardson Centre and walking through the courtyard.
View is south from appromately the skywalk. Photograph shows the walkway that runs in front of the A.E. McKenzie Building south to the George T. Richardson Centre staircase and entrance. McMaster Hall in the background.
View is north northeast from the roof of the John E. Robbins Library in the George T. Richardson Centre. Photograph shows the entrance to the Richardson Building, part of the courtyard and the Clark Hall extension.
View is northeast from in front of the John E. Robbins Library in the George T. Richardson Centre. Photograph shows the entrance to the Richardson Building, most of the courtyard, Clark Hall and its extension.
View is northeast from the roof of the George T. Richardson Centre (John E. Robbins Library). Photograph shows the courtyard and the west side of the Brandon College building and Clark Hall, as well as the Clark Hall extension and part of the skywalk.
View is east southeast from the roof of the A.E. McKenzie Building. Photograph shows the courtyard and the west side of the Brandon College Building, as well as the Citizens' Science Building and the greenspace in between the two buildings.
View is from the front steps of the Education Building looking south down the east side of the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall to the Knowles Douglas Students' Union Centre and the John R. Brodie Science Centre in the background.
View is north northwest from the roof of McMaster Hall. Photograph shows part of the Citizens' Science Building, a number of H-Huts, the Brandon College Building, the greenspace, the J.R.C. Evans Lecture Theatre, the A.E. McKenzie Building, the Queen Elizabeth II Music Building and the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium. A number of residential blocks are also visible.
View is north northeast from the roof of McMaster Hall. Photograph shows a couple of H-Huts, the Brandon College Building, Clark Hall, the George T. Richardson Centre, the A.E. McKenzie Building, the original Music Building and the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium. A number of residential blocks are also visible.
