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To celebrate Concordia's 25th anniversary, we present a series on the past, present and future of our buildings, and next term, on the life within them and how it has changed. To start, here's a fond look at the Loyola Campus, whose earliest structures were built on farmland early in the century. We are indebted to Archives for their excellent research, and to Christian Fleury for many of the photographs. |
The first buildings, begun in 1913, were the Administration Building, the Junior (now the Psychology) Building, and the Refectory. They, the Chapel (opened in 1933) and the Central Building (opened in 1947) are brick, faced with matte-surface Greendale bricks, with Indiana limestone and terra cotta trim, and set on Montreal limestone.
Aerial view of the construction of the Administration Building, circa 1926, facing north. The building is an ornate version of the neo-Tudor style with decorative battlements, a reworking of English medieval architecture.
The Psychology Building started in 1913 as the Junior Building (for junior students), and then became Loyola High School. In 1990, the High School traded properties with Concordia. Psychology moved into the former high school, and Loyola built a new facility on the other side of Sherbrooke St.
The Campus Centre was the focus of student administration debate for six long years before it opened in the early 1970s. It was run by the students (though it was owned by Loyola College), with lounges, music-listening facilities, a games room, a snack bar, and a student pub, The Hive, which became the hub of a "revitalize Loyola" campaign last year.
The Campus Centre was built next to the Vanier Library, which had been opened by its namesake, Governor-General Georges P. Vanier, on October 27, 1964. An extension to the library, which also houses some academic offices, was added in 1986-89. The photo was taken in the 1970s.
The main entrance of the Administration Building is a close copy of a doorway at St. Mary's College, Oxford.
The Jesuit priests who administered and taught at Loyola once lived on the second floor of the Administration Building. The priests of St. Ignatius parish had living spaces and visiting parlours off the hallway that joins the Adminitration Building to the chapel, until a separate parish church was built in 1967. This photo was probably taken in the 1940s.
The Refectory, now home to the Music Department, was one of the original buildings, and its function was to feed students and staff. It is in the shape of a cross. A cloister (covered walkway) joins it to the Psychology Building.
Here's a building that's seen lots of action. The Physical Services Building was built in 1923 as an arena and hockey rink for Loyola College, and saw many lively games even before artificial ice was installed in 1954. In 1941, an addition to the south wall was built as a drill hall for military cadets, and this became a cafeteria in 1946. The building was used for the Loyola Youth Hostel in 1972 and 1973, and it also housed the Chameleon Theatre in the 1970s.
The Loyola Chapel contains new colours "laid up" in 1976 for the Duchess of Connaught's Own Irish Canadian Rangers, a World War I regiment with close Loyola connections. The panels for the altar were hand-carved in walnut by Robert Nagy, a retired Concordia chaplain, who also made the processional cross. They were installed last spring.
The Road of Remembrance: In 1922, 36 maple trees were planted along Sherbrooke St. to commemorate each of the Loyola boys who had died in World War I, and a 37th was added shortly thereafter. Each Remembrance Day, November 11, the trees were marked with poppy wreaths. Some of the trees have disappeared, and the plaques have been moved to the new high school.
The F.C. Smith Theatre commemorates Francis C. Smith, S.J., who gave some of his family inheritance toward the building of the Loyola chapel and auditorium in 1933. The auditorium was much used over the years by the west-end community for plays and concerts -- jazz great Thelonius Monk played there -- and has recently been renovated.
Other buildings at Loyola:
* The Central Building, linking the Administration and Refectory buildings, was opened in 1947. It now houses Academic Technology (Arts and Science), CJLO Radio, a copy centre, engineering labs, the offices of The Concordian, and the Guadagni Lounge. The lounge was named for Professor Franco Guadagni, who taught engineering and chemistry from 1942 to 1953.
* The Bryan Building, home of Communication Studies and Journalism, was built in 1968. It was named after William Xavier Bryan, S.J. (1892-1947), a distinguished teacher and Dean of Studies at Loyola.
* The Hingston Hall complex contains a bookstore, classrooms, residences, faculty association offices, and academic departments, but when it was opened in 1964, it was strictly a residence for men. It is named for a former Loyola rector, William Hales Hingston, S.J. (1877-1964). A women's residence, Langley Hall, was open on Sherbrooke St. at Mariette Ave. from 1967 to 1995. Plans are to have Hingston Hall revert to being primarily a co-ed residence.
* When the Drummond Science Building opened in 1961, it was a state-of-the-art science facility, and its modern style, with a windowless rotunda fronting Sherbrooke St., raised a few hackles. The building was named after Lewis Henry Drummond, S.J. (1848-1929), a prolific writer, a popular speaker and preacher, and an activist for education, French-English relations and other issues. He taught English at Loyola in his later years.
The round, sun-filled Russell Breen Senate Chamber, at the south end of the complex, was named for Monsignor Russell Breen, who taught at Loyola from 1969. Breen became the first Concordia Dean of Arts and Science after the merger.
