Key Number:	HS 45390
Site Name:	Springwater School
Other Names:
Site Type:	0305 - Educational: Composite School

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			33	18	4

Address:	Near Delia
Number:
Street:
Avenue:
Other:
Town:
Near Town:	Delia

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Cruciform
Storeys:	Storeys: 1 1/2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Stone
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Medium Hip
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Dormer Type: Hip Chimney Location - Side to Side: Centre Window - Structural Opening Shape: Semi-Circular Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Material: Brick
Exterior:	Hip dormer south elevation, center chimney. The building has a fieldstone exterior with 16' walls. Its windows are well detailed arched with red brick. Bracketed wood canopy over entry, brick voissoirs over openings, brick sills, wood frame double hung windows.
Interior:	The interior woodwork is made of B.C. spruce and fir. It has impressive maple floors that even today hardly show wear. On the east wall are six large double hung windows with small panes of glass.
Environment:	Faces south. A thin row of poplars marks the northwest boundary of the site. Rural - school yard of 4 acres/surrounded by farm land.
Condition:	Structure: Good. Repair: Fair. 13 JUL 1981. While a barn has been demolished, the essential elements of a school yard (privies and play equipment still remain). While the building has suffered minor damages it is in sound condition and could be repaired for a modest amount.
Alterations:	N/A

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Constructed	1922/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
School Community Centre	1922/01/01 1952/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
Majestic and F.L. Woman's Institute	1953/04/07

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	Mr. Shields
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	Mr. Shields was the stone mason to engineer the building of the school. P. Manchester was the first teacher at Springwater. 1922 - Springwater school erected. Circa 1951 - school closed. Springwater School District Number 2854 was established on November 25, 1912 at the height of the immigration boom in Western Canada. Like the majority of rural school districts created at that time, this one was relatively small, covering only 28 sections. The first trustees, E.E. Coupland, Harry Limpert and Henry Boon, were amongst the first homesteaders in the area after the district was thrown open for settlement in 1910. Harry Limpert was an active member of the community, taking an interest in the U.F.A. and the Wheat Pool, and elected a councillor for Lambton municipality for many years and reeve for nine. Henry Boon, an English native of Plymouth, had just arrived to homestead in 1911 after a year in Calgary. These men wasted little time establishing educational facilities in their new community. Most of the labour other than that requiring special tradesmen was volunteered, so that this ambitious and expensive project for so new a settlement could be accomplished. The Springwater School became a rural community centre. It served as a location for Christmas concerts, daylight dances, chicken suppers, fall fairs and various other social events. The school was closed in 1942 with the creation of a consolidated school division, but it remains a landmark reminder of the impressive local initiative which improved upon the normal one room school facility built in western Canadian rural communities. Springwater School was built according to a variant of the Department of Education standard one-room school plan. Its cottage style was marked by a small ornamental dormer above the entrance. It is about 20' longer than the typical 50' length. Its two side bays were added expense. There is a four foot stage on the north wall complete with proscenium and stage curtain. Unlike the vast majority of Alberta's rural schools, Springwater School was constructed with fieldstone. The walls are 16 inches thick. Some of the windows have been topped with red brick which provide a handsome contrast and elegance for this sturdy building. The mortar was made from the sand found in a nearby pit and has spread so as to provide a more uniform surface to the multicoloured stone. Some of the exterior woodwork in the Springwater School is made of B.C. spruce and fir. Impressive maple floors even today hardly show wear. The carpentry and plastering was done by a Calgary carpenter named Borgal. Local labour and district tradesmen combined to give the Springwater School some distinction among the multitude of one-room schools built in rural Alberta during its initial settlement.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:

Register:

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places: