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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1964-04-23, Page 2Page 2 - Wingham Ad:anee-Tines, Thursday, April 23, 1904 Addition Makes Composite School By A. E. BROWN Specifications Writer Kyles $.4 Kyles Color Scheme Chosen for Balanced Harmon Wingham District High School is a tribute to mod4rn and progressive education, .and proof that co-operation be- tween town and country is pos- sible to the betterment of boti.. After the disastrous fire of December 1954, pupils moved into the school which was then being built, in January of 1955. Although the school had not been started until April of 1954, it was possible to accommodate the pupils as early as January 1955, with the completed school officially being opened on April 20th, 1955. This school then was able to serve 520 pupils, corning from an area of 24 square miles. An addition in 1960 managed to accommodate a total of 7411 pupils, but it was quite appar- ent the building was still not big enough. The school had been designed with future ad- ditions in mind; consequently, yet another addition was design- ed for the fall of 1963 comple- tion. This latest addition was intended to give the complete school an enrolment of approxi- mately 1,000 pupils. It is of interest tonotethat Enrolment Has Doubled Since 1955 When the new Wingham Dis- trict High School opened in 1955 it served an area of 24 square miles and had a registra- tion of 400--300 rural and 100 from the town. By the fall term of 1958 at- tendance was over 600 and a survey of public schools in the district indicated that enrol- ment would reach 750 by 1961. Since this situation was not a temporary one, an addition was built. The total accommoda- tion was for 750. The new vocational addition has brought the rating to just over 1,000. At present there are 830 students. the original building in 1954- 19;,5 had au area of 40,:147 square feet; the addition in 1960 10,825 square feet; and the la- test addition - 43, 218 square feet. So you will see that the latest addition is almost the arca of the original school. The entire cost of this addition, started in 1962, was borne by Special Vocational Grant; shared entirely by the Federal Government and the Province of Ontario, with absolutely nodi- rect charge to the Wingham area. When the tenders were call- ed in the fall of 1962, it was intended that the successful contractor would make an im- mediate start. However, there was a two-month delay m the signing, of the contract, this work was not started until late October of 1962. No sooner had the construc- tion commenced, when the first of that winter's heavy snowfalls filled all excavations, and kept them full for the win- ter. Unfortunately, there was a run of bad luck with some of the construction; since in the summer of 1963 the terrazzo contractor declared bankruptcy, and this caused a six-week de- lay. Shortly after the new ter- razzo contractor came on the job, he had a strike on his hands, However, things were all straightened out, and a con- centrated push was made on the job. The original high school, built in 1954, was simply a high school to cope with the normal education requirements, First Wingham High School Was Opened August, 1907 Citizens who had felt for some time that a high school was needed here, took the first concrete steps in 1906 and a board was appointed. Dr. A.J. Irwin was the pub- lic school representative to the board and was named chairman as an honor in recognition of his interest and efforts in secur- ing the high school. Other members of the first board were Dudley Holmes, secretary; Dr. P. MacDonald, Dr. J.P. Ken- nedy, John Wilson, V. S. , J. A. Morton, C.P. Smith and W.F. VanStone. The site finally chosen was the five vacant lots on the east side of Carling Terrace, south of John, and a portion of Wil- liam Armour's farm east of these lots. The new school was a three- story white brick building, 80x 48 feet with front and side en, trances. On the first floor were two large classrooms, a teach- ers' room, waiting room, hall and cloakroom. There were three classrooms on the second floor and an assembly room on the third floor. The basement housed the boiler room and playrooms. The school was planned to accommodate 150 students. The estimated cost for fur- nishings was $15, 000 and a by- law was passed for the issuing of debentures to this amount, to cover a period of three years. FIRST CLASSES HELD IN PUBLIC SCHOOL When the fall term opened in 1906 the 112 pupils utilized three classrooms in the public school. This enabled thehigh school to receive grants for the latter part of 1906. The fees were set at $6.00 $8.00 and $10.00, graded ac- cording to the class the pupil was in regardless of whether or not the student was from Huron County. The first principal was John A. Taylor, who came to Wing - ham from Dutton High School, and he held that position until he was appointed school inspec- tor for St. Thomas and part of Elgin County in 1909. His teaching staff included Our Congratulations QUALITY MATERIALS AND CRAFTSMANSHIP WERE STRESSED IN THE BUILDING OF THE ADDITION TO THE WINGHAM DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL. WE ARE PLEASED TO HAVE BEEN OF SERVICE IN THIS PROJECT. Foster's Flooring Ltd. 585 KINGSWOOD PLACE - BURLINGTON James G. Workman ofOrange- ville,mathematics teacher;Miss F.B. Ketcheson of Toronto, teacher of Moderns and English; and at the beginning of 1907 they were joined by John C. Smith, who was hired asclas- sical master. The school was officially opened the last day of August, 1907 when John Wilson, V.S., then chairman of the board, presided for the ceremony. SERVES DISTRICT The status of the school changed in 1948 to include the surrounding municipalities in a high school district. The increased enrolment and the establishment of shop work and home economics classes made it necessary to expand the accommodations and tem- porary rooms were added through the purchase of H -huts from the Port Albert R.A.F. station, Registration steadily increas- ed from 155 in 1946 to 380 in 1954. Of these 290 arrived by bus, the remaining 90 being from the town itself. In April 1954 work com- menced on a completely new district high school, with a to- tal of 20 rooms in all, to pro- vide facilities for the broadest kind of secondary school edu- cation. W. Stanley Hall, who was serving his 20th year as principal, was head of the school at that time. The new building was com- pleted in record time. The contractors began moving in heavy equipment on April 26, 1954 with an estimate to the board that the school would be finished in nine months. The official opening was held Wed- nesday, April 20, 1955 with the Hon. Leslie Frost perform- ing the colorful ceremony. The cornerstone had been laid in connection with Wingham's 75th anniversary of incorpora- tion festivities the previous August. Final approval of the muni- cipal board for constructionhad not yet been received when the contractors began to move in, but at a meeting the same day town council took steps to raise Please turn to Page Three and the first addition was basi- cally enlarging the school, with the addition of one shop, How- ever, the latest addition in ef- fect, converted the building in- to a composite school by adding several classrooms, electrical, carpentry and auto shops, a boy's gymnasium, the former one remaining for the girls, and a beautiful courtyard. COLORS HAVE BEEN CAREFULLY CHOSEN The interior and exterior colors used in the building are in character with the design of the school. The profusion of color that meets the eye on en- tering may appear somewhat frivolous for an educational building, but the color har- monies are designed as a bal- anced background to a pro- longed association by the stu- dents, and they create an en- vironment. These colors are not chosen without thought, - they are chosen with a specific purpose, with rooms facing south and west leaving cooler colors than those facing east and north. Each room has a predominant color scheme to give contrast to the chalkboards and ease eye strain, but the re- mainder of the room is a com- plement to that main color, creating balanced harmony. Monotony is avoided by chang- ing the colour schemes from room to room, thus helping to keep the student mind alert and active throughout the day. The building design and color schemes help to make the school a happy and enjoyable place for the students. The new wing generally has materials as follows:- Terrazzo floors in corridors and lobbies, vinyl -asbestos tile in class- rooms, hardwood or concrete floors in shops, The concrete is treated with floor hardener which prevents the continued dusting that is usual with un- treated concrete. The hard- wood floor in the new gymnasi- um is treated with a new type of varnish called polyurethane, which stands a terrific amount of rough usage without marking and needs minimum of upkeep, The gymnasium floor itself is laid on rubber cushion pads, which give the complete floor a comfortable resilience. The corridor walls are of glazed concrete block and classroom walls are mainly covered with tackboards, chalk- boards, acoustic tile and gyp- sum board painted. Acoustic tile is generally used on ceilings, with exposed deck, concrete and taped gyp- sum board in some areas. The acoustic tile in the corridors are painted in random color pat- terns. This tends to avoid mo- notony and tomes down architec- tural perspective created by long corridors, Congratulations Wingham District High School It's an impressive new school addition, a big undertaking that has been accomplished. The area youth will now have a wider choice of opportunities. r s WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE BEEN CHOSEN. TO SUPPLY THE BELL & HOWELL SOUND PROJECTOR AND EQUIPMENT. 1 THE CAMERA & SUPPLY SHOP I KITCHENER'S LARGEST AND MOST MODERN CAMERA STORE. FEATURING PROJECTOR a TAPE RECORDER LOUNGE. KITCHENER - 0•NTARIO ur Sincere Best Wishes to the members of the Board, Teachers and Students of the Wingham District High School on the official opening and dedication of the new VOCATIONAL WING WE ARE GRATIFIED TO HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO SUPPLY OUR PRODUCTS FOR THE NEW BUILDING. amilton Draperies 558B CONCESSION STREET, HAMILTON Congratulations to Wingham District High School on the Opening of their New School Addition ! As general contractors for the building of the Wingham District High School addition ... we are proud to add this attractive and functional wing to the growing list of industrial, business and school structures built by our company: �►►oEE,v BRAMPTON, ONTARIO .0. • w