The Virus Laboratory Building was constructed from 1947-1948, and was designed by the architectural firm of Webster and Gilbert. It was located on what is now a grassy area in front of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. The construction of the building was financed with proceeds from the sale of the equine encephalomyelitis vaccine. The disease equine encephalomyelitis, more commonly known as "sleeping sickness," first appeared in Saskatchewan in 1935. It recurred in 1937 and 1938, when it killed an estimated 13,000 to 15,000 horses. The vaccine was developed by Dr. Fulton in the late 1930s while he was still head of the Veterinary Sciences Department, and was first sold by the University in 1939. While commercial production companies in the United States were selling a similar vaccine for $1.80 per dosage, the University undersold them at 75 cents – which accounted for all the funding available for construction. Dr. Fulton also demonstrated that a human disease previously diagnosed as non-paralytic poliomyelitis was in fact caused by the same virus, at which time he produced a vaccine for humans. Demolition of the J.S. Fulton Virus Laboratory was completed in 1989.

The Observatory was designed by Gentil J.K. Verbeke and constructed in two phases using local limestone from 1928-1930 for about $23,000. The R. J. Arrand Contracting Co. was contracted to build the Observatory Tower in 1928 for a cost of $6625. The firm completed the tower $353 under budget on 14 April 1929, for $6,272. On 20 June 1929 R. J. Arrand was again awarded a contract by the University, this time to build the small classroom wing of the Observatory for $15,640. Work on the classroom wing was completed on 23 January 1930 for $15,034.50. University funding for the construction of the building was supplemented by private donations. Along with the Field Husbandry Building, the Observatory would be among the last free-standing buildings constructed on campus until after World War II. A plaque with the names of many donors still hangs inside the dome of the observatory. Saskatoon residents will find many of the names highly recognizable even today. A sundial was added to the exterior of the Observatory during the 1940s. It reads:
I am a Shadow
So art thou
The observatory facilities are available for use by both university students and visitors to the campus. The telescopes and other scientific equipment are used by students during the laboratory component of their courses. University personnel regularly offer tours of the observatory to elementary and high school classes, youth groups and other community associations. The Observatory is staffed year-round on Saturday nights so that any visitor may view celestial objects through the telescope.

These are they who went forth from this University to the Great War and gave their lives that we might live in freedom.” - Inscription on the Memorial Gates.

Sixty-seven University students and faculty lost their lives while on service during World War I. In August 1918, three months prior to the formal armistice, President Walter Murray began making inquiries regarding the cost of memorial plaques. Two years earlier, the Board of Governors had authorized an “Honor Roll” of names for all associated with the University who served, be added to the College Building. The impact of the war on the University was immense: 330 students and faculty served during the War, a number equivalent to nearly all students who had registered the year prior to the beginning of the conflict. In 1916-17 Engineering closed its doors as all students and faculty enlisted.

Architect David R. Brown estimated the Gates would cost $30,000, with an additional $10,000 required for the memorial. Students and alumni fund-raising helped with a portion of the costs. The gates were made of solid bronze, imported from England; the remainder, made of local greystone.

The Memorial Gates were unveiled by President Murray and dedicated by the Bishop of Saskatchewan on 3 May 1928; and for many years thereafter the site was used for the University’s Remembrance Day services. Wreaths are still laid at the site every November 11th.

The location of the Gates was on the spot envisioned in the original campus plan as the main entrance to the University. It became the primary roadway to the Royal University Hospital, and in the late 1980s various plans were considered to help ease the flow of traffic through the area, including moving the Gates to another area of campus. The design finally accepted left the Gates in their original location as a pedestrian entrance way, with traffic re-routed to the west.

Following passage of the Saskatchewan Pharmacy Act in 1911, the newly incorporated Saskatchewan Pharmaceutical Association requested the University of Saskatchewan undertake the training and examination of pharmacists. A School within the College of Arts and Science was established in 1913 and the following year, 22 students enrolled in a one-year certificate program following a three-year apprenticeship. In 1921 the School became a College offering a four-year course leading to a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy. Three years later the certificate program was extended to two years. In 1946 the four-year BSP was a requirement for license in Saskatchewan. In 1987 a Division of Nutrition and Dietetics was established in the College of Pharmacy. Prior to this, Nutrition and Dietetics had been offered in the College of Home Economics. In 1994 the College was renamed the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition.

The Law/Commerce complex was completed in 1967 by Poole Construction for $2,627,250. It was designed by Holliday-Scott Desmond Paine, and provided 89,154 gross square feet of finished space for the two Colleges.

The building was adjoined to the north end of the existing Arts Building in order to economize building costs, as well as to provide a covered pedestrian passage between Arts, Commerce and Law. The decision to house both the College of Law and the College of Commerce under one roof was made principally in order to conserve land use while still providing both Colleges with almost complete independence in accommodation.

A sculpture by Bill Epp was commissioned in 1968 for the Law-Commerce Complex for $5000. The finished work stands approximately seven feet high by ten feet long and depicts a man and a woman reclining on a bench. The sculpture is composed of steel encased in bronze set on a steel frame. The sculpture rests at the north entrance of the Law Building.

The Law Building was officially opened on September 22, 1967, and was first occupied in the Spring of 1968. At opening it included one 80-seat classroom, two 45-seat classrooms, one 30- seat classroom, four 15-seat seminar rooms and a library. Other space in the complex included the Dean’s office, a general office, 18 faculty offices, the librarian’s office, three graduate students’ offices, a Bar Review office and a Student Society office.

On opening, the Law Library contained stack space for 60,000 volumes and seating for 150 students. The Library consists of two floors, a full main floor and a balcony level which take up 16,000 square feet of space. An additional 6,400 square feet of book storage space, enough to house another 30,000 volumes, was left available in 1968 in the unfinished basement of the building, to be used when it was required.

In 1972 proposals were made to build additional classroom and lounge space in the unfinished basement of the building as part of greater renovations. Plans for the renovations were laid in 1977, and in 1980 the unfinished space in the basement of the Law Building was completed. An existing seminar room and a stack room in the main building were also converted into four new offices for faculty, and the existing lounge area as well as an adjacent classroom were renovated. The renovations were contracted to Tubby and Wilks for $120,800 and were designed by the architectural firm of Holliday-Scott Desmond Paine.

The Law Building was officially opened on September 22, 1967, and was first occupied in the Spring of 1968. At opening it included one 80-seat classroom, two 45-seat classrooms, one 30- seat classroom, four 15-seat seminar rooms and a library. Other space in the complex included the Dean’s office, a general office, 18 faculty offices, the librarian’s office, three graduate students’ offices, a Bar Review office and a Student Society office.

On opening, the Law Library contained stack space for 60,000 volumes and seating for 150 students. The Library consists of two floors, a full main floor and a balcony level which take up 16,000 square feet of space. An additional 6,400 square feet of book storage space, enough to house another 30,000 volumes, was left available in 1968 in the unfinished basement of the building, to be used when it was required.

In 1972 proposals were made to build additional classroom and lounge space in the unfinished basement of the building as part of greater renovations. Plans for the renovations were laid in 1977, and in 1980 the unfinished space in the basement of the Law Building was completed. An existing seminar room and a stack room in the main building were also converted into four new offices for faculty, and the existing lounge area as well as an adjacent classroom were renovated. The renovations were contracted to Tubby and Wilks for $120,800 and were designed by the architectural firm of Holliday-Scott Desmond Paine.

Dr. Christopher Hedley Bigland was born in Calgary on 15 October 1919. He received his DVM from the University of Toronto in 1941. This was followed by a Doctor of Veterinary Public Health from the University of Toronto in 1946 and an MSc in physiology from the University of Alberta in 1960. Dr. Bigland became a member of the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan in 1964 with his appointment as Professor and Head of the Department of Veterinary Microbiology. In 1974 Dr. Bigland became the first Director of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) and remained in that post until his retirement in 1984. Dr. Bigland died in Saskatoon in 2005 at age 86.

In Canada, several veterans' organizations emerged during the First World War. The Great War Veterans Association was by 1919 the largest veterans' organization in Canada. Following the First World War, 15 different organizations existed to aid returning veterans in Canada. Field Marshal The 1st Earl Haig, founder of the British Empire Service League (now known as the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League), visited Canada in 1925 and urged the organizations to merge.[2] In the same year, the Dominion Veterans Alliance was created to unite these organizations.

In November 1925, the Canadian Legion was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Services League. The Canadian Legion of the British Empire Services League was incorporated by a special Act of Parliament the following year. The Legion grew steadily through the 1930s and then expanded rapidly following the Second World War. In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II granted The Legion royal patronage and it became The Royal Canadian Legion.

Ross Thatcher was born on May 24, 1917, in Neville, Saskatchewan. During the 1920s, his father, Wilbert Thatcher, founded a hardware store in Moose Jaw. Thatcher helped out in the store while attending school. He graduated from high school at 15 and graduated from Queen’s University, with a Bachelor of Commerce, at 18. He began work at Canadian Packers in Toronto, however, in the late 1930s, his father became ill and Thatcher returned to Moose Jaw to run the family business.
Thatcher was actively involved with politics. In 1942, he was elected to the Moose Jaw City Council, with a specific emphasis on business reform, and in 1945 he was successful in winning the federal riding of Moose Jaw for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Although a member of the CCF, his emphasis on business caused friction within the party. Thatcher later ran as an independent and as a liberal. One of his more notable events as a politician was his debate with Tommy Douglas in Mossbank, Saskatchewan. Although the debate was considered a draw, the fact that he kept up with Douglas was considered a victory for the Liberal party. Thatcher died of a heart attack on July 22, 1971 in Regina.