P5754

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Details

ID Number

P5754

Item Name

Image

Maker

Lionel J. Tidridge Photography

Title

St. Mary's Academy / Académie Sainte-Marie

Title (Fre)

Académie Sainte-Marie

Date

1977

Description

Black and white photograph of St. Mary's Academy; the building is a long, four-storey brick structure with a tall tower in the centre; the roof is flat with two peaked ends visible at the far left and right sides; there is a statue of Mary in front of the school; in the foreground there are four pillars (white crosses on the middle two) staggered along an iron fence; there is a paved road leading from the centre of the photograph up to the school; the photo was taken by Lionel J. Tidridge of 481 Askin Blvd., Windsor.

History

The original St. Mary's Academy was built on the southeast corner of Park & Ouellette in 1865 and was demolished in 1929 to make way for the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel exit. It was relocated to Academy Drive in South Windsor. Called the "New" St. Mary's Academy, this building was designed by Viau and Venne in the Collegiate Gothic Revival Style and opened in 1929. The building was sold to a major Windsor developer and it was dynamited in 1977 to make way for a new subdivision. The fight to save St. Mary's came at a time when the Windsor Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (WACAC) had just been formed. Although the battle was lost, citizen awareness of heritage certainly increased. The original gates of St. Mary's are visible in this photograph. The four massive red brick pillars with limestone Gothic style tops anchored the wrought iron fence. These were originally saved when the subdivision - called St. Mary's Gates - was developed. However, after the houses were built the developer tore them down. Tan gates were substituted in the approximate same place when residents complained.

Place made

Canada - Ontario - Windsor

Collection Name

Museum Windsor

Subjects

Academy Dr. / Promenade Academy

Buildings / Immeubles

Crosses / Croix

Lionel J. Tidridge Photography / Photographe Lionel J. Tidridge

Religious articles / Articles religieux

Religious education / Éducation religieuse

Schools / Écoles

Sculpture

St. Mary's Academy / Académie Sainte-Marie

St. Mary's Gate / Portail St. Mary

Tidridge, Lionel

Viau and Venne / Viau et Venne

Windsor Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee / Comité consultatif de la conservation architecturale de Windsor