Key Number:	HS 14730
Site Name:	Coutts School
Other Names:
Site Type:	0311 - Educational: Rural Multi-level School

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			1	15	4

Address:	2 Street W & 1 Avenue S
Number:	N/A
Street:	2 W
Avenue:	1 S
Other:
Town:	Coutts
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Irregular
Storeys:	Storeys: 1
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Brick
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Medium Hip
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:
Exterior:	Decorative brick coursing, some stone inlays. Half truncated hip on front of building with one gable dormer on the front of the building. This is a typical single-storey rural school with a truncated hip roof, rectangular in plan with a high-basement. The exterior is sheathed with brick veneer of common bond.
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Landscaped area in back with playground equipment, parking lot in front. The school buiding is thought to be situated on the Old Whoop-up Trail. It is very close to the U.S. boarder, on top of a hill overlooking the border crossing. The building is probably the largest structure in the village of Coutts, and is a conspicuous and familiar structure in the context of the the neighbourhood.
Condition:	Structure: Good. Repair: Good. 14 JAN 1981. The superstructure above grade is in sound condition but general building maintenance has been poor, and the fire prevention measures have numerous lapses. In addition, the foundation has deteriorated due to sulphate attacks, and has been recommended to be replaced or upgraded by architects.
Alterations:	The school has rested on the original site since it was first established in 1929. Apart from the 1954 addition to the south, no major alterations have been carried out an the basic historic integrity still exists. However, the windows on the north and west have been altered. The original openings are unchanged, but the wooden sashes have been removed, and the openings boarded up, with a small aluminum sliding window on the lower portion. Including the original brickwork and cedar shingles, it is estimated that the exterior exhibits approximately 70% of the original fabric. The interior has been modified in the past to meet changing fire regulations and institutional standards. Therefore, probably not more than 50% of the original fabrication may be present, including the panel doors, trim, partitions, wall coverings, the washroom finishes and facilities, and so on.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Built and opened	1937/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
School Community School for approx. 100 students	1937/01/01 1982/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
County of Warner The Board of Turstees of the Horizon School Division No.67	1937/01/01 1958/01/01

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	The Coutts School is the fourth in a series of structures specifically designed to serve the educational needs of this community. The first two schools which were constructed in 1919 and 1925 were modest wood frame buildings. Oil field development nearby and expansion of the local refinery stimulated population increase and additional demand for school space. In 1929 a larger school was constructed of brick and tile to conform to the standard plans of the Department of Education. Built at a cost of $26,000, it contained three classrooms and an auditorium on the ground floor and two play rooms, lavatory and furnace room in the basement. That school burnt down in January 1937. Its replacement was designed by Lethbridge architect H.W. Meech. Between 1914 and 1928 Meech had held a variety of positions with the City of Lethbridge including those of building inspector, assessor and commissioner of public works. From 1928 to 1942 he functioned as an architect in Lethbridge sometimes as the only resident architect in this community. Built at a cost of $30,000 this new building included five classrooms, a library, science room and auditorium. The new facilities permitted the introduction of new subjects involving manual training. The construction of this school coincided, however, with the closing of the refineries and a subsequent rapid decline in population. Within a two week period in 1937, student enrollment dropped by forty pupils. The extra classroom space was filled by means of a district reorganization which increased the extent of the population served. A new division, Foremost School Divisin, amalgamated the old Coutts School District #3560 with the adjacent rural school districts of Lind, Locke, Secton Creek, Clarinda, Verburg and Indian Rock. Foremost School Division was itself later incorporated into the County of Warner School Division. The school in question happened therefore to signal an era of school consolidation in the Coutts district. Only that kind of reorganization promised its continuing importance. Indeed, in the long term, the growth of Coutts as a regional educational centre necessitated the constrution of one addition to the school in 1954. * * * School was built and officially opened in 1937, and was built to replace the original school that burned down. Coutts was one of the original refinery towns, the refinery was taken out in 1939. Coutts was one of the original border crossings in Alberta, situated on the Old Whoop Up Trail. Americans entering into Canada to settle the west, led to a mixture of Americans and Canadians in one small community Coutts, Canada and Sweetgrass, Montana. * * * Construction: The existing structure was constructed on part of the original foundation in the summer of 1937. It replaced an eight-year-old building which had been destroyed by fire that same year. In 1954 an extension was added, to fill an urgent need for more classroom space. Unfortunately, this addition was given a flat roof, rendering it unsympathetic in design to the main building. Nevertheless, both buildings exhibit a high degree of craftsmanship and quality on the brickwork.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:

Register:	N/A

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places: