Michener Centre Administration Building

Red Deer

Street Address:	5225 - 39 Avenue
Community:	Red Deer
Boundaries:	Lot 3, Block 10, Plan 0624309
Contributing Resources:	N/A

ATS Legal Description:

Mer	Rge	Twp	Sec	LSD
4	27	38	15	13

PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):

Plan	Block	Lot	Parcel
0624309	10	3

Latitude/Longitude:

Latitude	Longitude	CDT	Datum Type
52.272886	-113.788044	GPS	NAD 83

UTM Reference:

Northing	Easting	Zone	CDT	Datum Type

Recognition

Recognition Authority:	Local Governments (AB)
Designation Status:	Municipal Historic Resource
Date of Designation:	1984/05/28

Historical Information

Built:	1912/01/01 To 1912/01/01
Period of Significance:	1912 to present
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Current Function(s):
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Builder:
Context:	HISTORICAL CONTEXT With the population of the young province of Alberta growing rapidly in the early part of the twentieth century, the Alberta Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Canada decided that a college was warranted for young women, for grade schooling from a Christian perspective, and for alternative courses to help them expand their scope beyond what was offered in regular schools. As members of the Presbyterian faith were scattered throughout the settled parts of the province, the site chosen for the new college was the central location of Red Deer. Here, a local farmer named Henry Jamieson was willing to donate a 10 acre plot of land on which to build such a college. Situated on a hill east of town, it provided a scenic view of the countryside overlooking the Red Deer River. An adjoining 10 acres was purchased by the Synod for $2,000. In August 1910, Reverend Neil Donald Keith was appointed President of the proposed college, which was to be called the Alberta Ladies College. The following March, the newly appointed Board met to consider construction of the school building(s). It was decided that a large, single, all-inclusive facility would meet their needs, and so C.A. Julian Sharman was contracted to design the structure in co-operation of the Edmonton firm of Barnes & Gibbs. The contractors were to be the local firm of Horton and Willets. By the following May, $65,000 had been gathered for the structure, and so construction began. By early 1913, the college building was completed at a cost of $75,000. Mrs. Jean Muldrew was appointed the Principal, and, in January 1913, classes began. In all, 50 students were enrolled that first year, including residents and day pupils. As stated in an early calendar, it was the aim of the College to provide students with "such a substantial and well-ordered education as [shall] enable them to make their proper contribution to the solution to of [life's] problems, domestic, social, intellectual and religious." The curriculum featured a junior school program of four years, and an Associate in Arts program of three years, the latter being the equivalent of grade 11 matriculation. Alternative courses included commercial subjects, household science, music, art, literature, expression, French, German and physical education. Of course, Christian scripture received special emphasis. For the next four years, the College carried on its programs, with enrollment averaging between 60 and 75 students, some as young as eight years old. On the Board of Directors were such luminaries as Colonel James Walker of Calgary and Edward Michener, the local MPP who would later become a senator, and whose son, Roland, would one day become Governor-General of Canada. The cost of maintaining the College was high however, especially during World War One. As most of the students were from Edmonton, it was decided, in 1917, to accept an offer from the non-denominational University of Alberta to have it operate from Assiniboia Hall. Here the College would operate for women of high school age and older as the Westminster Ladies College. The following year, when the University required extra space due to expanded post-war enrollment, the College leased the Strathcona Hotel building for two more years. Then, with talks underway about the amalgamation of Presbyterian and Methodist Churches of Canada to form a United Church, it was decided to close the College down and urge young women to seek education from a Protestant Christian perspective at Alberta College, then a Methodist facility. Upon leaving Red Deer, the Presbyterian Synod sold the College building there to the Alberta government for $125,000. By this time, there had been talk about a provincial home for the mentally handicapped, as opposed to those who were diagnosed as insane. By the Mental Defectives Act of 1919, it was adjudged that mentally handicapped people should be segregated from the rest of society. The now vacant red brick Ladies College building near Red Deer appeared to suit this need. At the time however, there appeared to be a greater urgency for a home for shell-shocked veterans of World War One, and so this structure, along with others in the province, was retrofitted to suit this purpose. By 1923, however, with the needs of the veterans declining, the old Ladies College building was again designated as the provincial home for the mentally handicapped, and so it was retrofitted to suit this purpose, with Dr. William McAllister in charge. Soon, people previously housed at Oliver but not considered insane were moved to the new facility. Initially called the Provincial Training School for Mentally Handicapped Children (although adults were accepted as well), the name of the facility was changed over the years until 1977, when it was designated the Michener Centre in honor of Edward Michener, who had served as one of the Directors of the Albert Ladies College, and his son, Roland, who had recently served as the Governor-General of Canada. By this time, other buildings had been added to the site, and the old Ladies College building was designated as the Administration Building of the facility. Here, the affairs of the Centre were administered, and, among other things, determination made at to whether or not certain of the residents should be sterilized under the Eugenics Act of 1927. In 1984, though owned by the provincial government, it was one of the first buildings in Alberta to be designated a Municipal Historic Resource under the Historical Resources Act. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE The historical significance of this structure is strong in three areas. First, from 1923 to the present, as the home of, and later the administration building for, the Alberta School for Mentally Handicapped Children, later the Michener Centre, in which capacity it saw its greatest use. Second, from 1913 to 1917, as the Alberta Ladies College, the first such college in Alberta to provide standard grade school education along with alternative courses for young women from a Protestant Christian perspective. Third, from 1918 to 1923, as a home for shell-shocked veterans of World War One.

Additional Information

Object Number:	4664-0040
Designation File:
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Data Source:	City of Red Deer