St Johns Ravenscourt School - Eagle Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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The Gymnasium — erected 1 937 and expects to be finished by late June. The only delay to construction was in August when water was found forty feet under the site. The founda¬ tions had to be changed to pre-stressed piles from poured ones, but since then, the extra cost and time have been made up. The new building will bring many changes, particularly to Thompson House. With all the additional space, there will be a series of common rooms which will include a recreation room, a separate TV room, a proper canteen, and a billiard room. The present library classroom will become a reading and study room. The gym basement would become mostly Upper School, with more locker space, a music practice room, and a hobbies room. The Yearbook Room will occupy Walter’s office where it will tie in with the Darkroom. All these changes would be principally for the benefit of the boarders. ( The Memorial Wing — 1955

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Architect ' s conception of the new Lower School Building. More than two years ago, plans were begun by a committee consisting of some members of the Board of Governors, the Staff, and the School Architect for a further expansion of the school. A master plan of the school at its full growth, 15 years from now, was made, and a program stating the needs and reasons for expansion was compiled. An examination of the program showed the type and design of building which would be needed, and the facilities it would contain. It was decided that upon completion of the new building, the Upper School would take over the Memorial Wing, and the new building would become a Lower School building, containing all the necessary offices and facilities to allow it to func¬ tion efficiently. In it would have to be a biology lab., locker rooms, a recreation area, a library, washrooms, and classrooms to accommodate 20 boys each, with the exception of Form VI, which could seat 25 because of the double Form VII. The next step was to swing the Memorial Wing to its present position, since the planning commit¬ tee wanted to avoid physically separating the Upper and Lower Schools. The Memorial Wing, being a light frame structure, lent itself to the move. The original plans for the new building were then modified to site it to the size of the old Memorial Wing site, so that it still linked the gymnasium and Hamber Hall. This made it some¬ what larger, and it will now contain 4 Upper School classrooms. At the same time, the committee realized that a new sewer system and lift station would be ne¬ cessary, as would new water mains, and a central heating system for the whole school. A larger power input was needed and after the underground cables go in, down go the old telephone poles! A more efficient fire-alarm system was set up, with the installation of smoke detectors. As the plans became clearer, the building was gradually adapt¬ ed to perfectly suit our needs. When all was thought to be ready, tenders were called, and on the 5th of August, 1964 the com¬ mittee gave the contract to Imperial Construction, the low bidder, and the amount authorized for the total project (including furnishings in the new building and modifications to the buildings, around it) was $494,000. The contract was signed in late August, and construction‘began at once; the com¬ pany was given until July 1, 1965, to finish. As this is being written, the company is optimistic, m Putting in the Boilers 3

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Setting the forms As for Hamber Hall, the old boiler room will become a two-level workshop; changes will have to be made in the kitchen, and sometime in the not-so-far-distant future, the Dining Hall may have to be lengthened. Like Hamber Hall, the new building is a modern design, with fireproof concrete floors, concrete block partitions, and a very functional layout. It will be up to Thompson House still to provide the rustic atmosphere that was characteristic of the school in the dim days if its youth. In conclusion, we would like to express special thanks to Mr. George N. Andison who last May, agreed to act as Chairman of the Fund-Raising Committee. It is mainly through his endeavors that the new building will become a financial reality. The campaign objective is $500,000; at present, slightly over $350,000 has been raised. Contribu¬ tions have come from all over Canada, from U.S.A., and from as far away as Venezuela. These contributions are not necessarily all from Old Boys, but wherever there are Old Boys, and they are scattered far and wide over the continent, contributions are coming in. Hamber Hall — 1956