Calgary Heritage Initiative forums

[newsposter]

Excerpt from Calgary Herald, November 24:

A $1.2-million donation from a prominent Calgary businessman will help restore a prominent piece of this city's history.

Ronald Mathison recently made the donation to St. Mary's University College in memory of his mother, Mary Theresa Mathison (nee Cush), and in tribute to a close family friend, Monsignor Joseph E. Le Fort.

The money will be used to restore provincially designated historic buildings on campus, which will serve as classrooms, a cafeteria, a bookstore and a student gathering space.

For more, here's the news release.
http://www.stmc.ab.ca/News&Events/News&Events/pressReleases/historicBuildings_06.pdf

Go to this link then click 'our history' for more on the college
http://www.stmc.ab.ca/AboutUs/aboutUs_all.htm

[newsposter]

See ^ for more

Restoration helps St. Mary's keep pace with enrolment
David Parker Calgary Herald
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Excerpt:
The city will be able to boast of another restored heritage building at the end of this month when work is completed on a fine historic red brick building on the campus of St. Mary's University College. It was one of the former Father Lacombe Home buildings built around 1913 that served as a classroom for the children of widows and orphans cared for at the home.

The home burned down in 1999 but the two-storey classroom and the nearby water tower that has already been restored were saved.

A total of $2.5 million was raised to restore and renovate the structure that will be named for Monsignor Joseph E. Le Fort, a close family friend of the major donor Ron Mathieson, of Matco Investments...

Full Story, free as of posting http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/calgarybusiness/story.html?id=d708168e-c423-4fd6-9708-ba3b49271125

[newsposter]

Link to 2010 threat about "The Midnapore Cycle", a play staged by St. Mary's University College about the history of Midnapore:
http://www.calgaryheritage.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=2047#2047

[newsposter]

St Mary's new president is interested in celebrating its built heritage acccording to this David Parker column:

St. Mary's president settles in to new home
By David Parker, For the Calgary Herald
August 9, 2011

... (new president Gerry) Turcotte is working with a site planning committee to look at campus expansion and has already made changes to the development and communications departments as he feels that the story of St., Mary's needs be told to a wider audience. He says that some of the people he has talked to are maybe not familiar with the university but know of its water tower, and he intends to use it in his branding of the school. The wooden heritage structure is a wonderful gathering place for both students and staff and he sees the water tower as a contradiction to the stuffy idea of universities being ivory towers...

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Mary+president+settles+home/5225876/story.html#ixzz1Wf35J7ZD