Close-up view of the sundial located on the south side of the Observatory.

Bio/Historical Note: 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.

Image of the sundial on the north side of the Observatory.

Bio/Historical Note: 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.

Elevated view of ceremony dedicating the Memorial Gates. Dignitaries, military, band and crowd in foreground. Union Jack draped over Memorial Tablet. St. Andrew's College behind dais, and Little Stone School in background.

An empty lecture hall with a poster featuring turkeys and the words "University of Saskatchewan Extension Dept." View from back of classroom looking towards blackboard.

Early stages of construction of the Memorial Union Building.

Bio/Historical Note: The Memorial Union Building (MUB) has the distinction of being the last building in the centre of campus designed in the collegiate gothic style and completely clad in greystone. It was designed to serve as a memorial to the students, faculty and staff of the University of Saskatchewan who perished overseas in the First and Second World Wars. The Upper MUB has been transformed several times since its formal opening on 11 Nov. 1955. It has been used as a student lounge, concert venue, pub, bookstore and coffee shop. It has hosted receptions, fashion shows, beauty and air guitar contests, club meetings, dances and political debates. During the 1945-1946 academic year a Students’ Union Building Committee was formed. The Committee outlined proposals for the new building, which included an auditorium, a ballroom, lounge rooms, a tuck shop and student offices, all for a cost of $600,000. A brief on the Committee’s findings and proposals was later presented to the Board of Governors of the University, which created a $100,000 sinking fund for construction of the building and student fees were raised $4 to raise an additional $200,000. The MUB formally opened on 11 November 1955. It was used primarily for student functions including dancing, card-playing, chess, and studying, though it never became the hub of student activities it was originally intended to be. Included in the original furnishings was a generous supply of ashtrays. In 1957 a Board of Directors was established to operate the MUB, and to promote social, cultural and recreational activities and programs for the students, faculty and alumni of the University of Saskatchewan. Due to the surge in enrolment at the University of Saskatchewan during the 1960s the student body quickly outgrew the building. Though the MUB had been designed to accommodate expansion to the south, by the 1964-1965 academic year the Students’ Union recognized the need for facilities much more extensive than even expansion could provide. As a result plans for what would eventually be the Place Riel Student Centre were born. In 1980 renovations to the MUB were completed as part of Phase III of the Place Riel Project. The renovations were designed by Ferguson Folstad Friggstad, and were completed by Bennett and White Construction. They included the demolition and removal of portions of the building, structural alterations, interior renovations including the refitting of Louis’ Pub, improvements to the elevator, and alterations and renovations to the pedestrian tunnel connected to the residences. The renovations cost $1.7 million. In 1983 an elevator was installed in the MUB for $143,600 and ramps for disabled access were constructed by Cana Construction. These improvements were designed by the Friggstad architectural firm. A 1985 renovation to the building was also designed by Friggstad. The renovations were performed by Haig Construction for $124,725. In March 2001 the Upper MUB was renovated as part of a planned relocation of the Browsers used bookstore. Included in the renovations was a snack and beverage bar as well as public access computers for Internet usage. The entire store is centred around the original war memorial, and the renovations have returned the space to its original purpose as a comfortable lounge for students.” The new Browsers opened its doors in late August 2001. During the summer of 2002 Louis’ Pub, located in the basement of the MUB, was also renovated, by contractors PCL Maxam. The renovations were designed by the architectural firm of Saunders Evans, and were performed by PCL Maxam for $5.25 million. The newly renovated Louis’ was opened in October 2002.

Interior and exterior images of Rutherford Rink, "The University Rink."

Bio/Historical Note: Built on a site previously used for an open outdoor rink, construction of “The Rink”, later known informally as the “Dog House”, was due to student initiative. A campaign to have a closed rink facility began in 1920; by 1928, the Students Representative Council appointed a committee to look into the feasibility of the student body assuming responsibility for construction. The Board of Governors loaned SRC the funds; which the student council hoped to pay back by instituting a $3 student fee. Although opened for use in December 1929 the rink, “already the most popular place on campus,” had its official opening on 23 January 1930, with an inter-varsity hockey game against the University of Manitoba (Saskatchewan won, 5-1). 650 attended the opening; and between 18,000-20,000 people used the rink during its first year of operation. The original design included “waiting rooms” on the west and east side, primarily for use by men and women respectively. The rink was used for general skating, “scrub,” faculty, senior men’s and girls’ varsity team hockey practices, the “fancy skating club,” children’s skating, and band practice, and winter carnival activities. Speed skates were allowed, but the rink was “not responsible for injury resulting therefrom.” During general skating, “playing tag,” “cutting in,” “cracking the whip,” and “reckless disregard and abandon in speed skating” were not tolerated. The building was renamed in honour of William J. Rutherford, the University’s first Dean of Agriculture, after his sudden and unexpected death on 1 June 1930. Minor renovations occurred over the next 88 years. Merlis Belsher Place, a multi-use ice facility, opened in 2018, mercifully replacing the ancient Rutherford Rink. The new arena is located on the south side of College Drive near the Field House.

Students seated at tables in Qu'Appelle Hall (men's residence) common room.

Elevated view of construction of Education Building; three cranes in background. Parked cars and road in foreground.

Bio/Historical Note: Upon completion in 1970, the Education Building contained seven standard classrooms as well as a number of special classrooms. The standard classrooms were built to accommodate 30 to 35 students and were designed to convert easily into two seminar rooms, or be combined with adjacent classrooms to form larger ones. The special rooms varied in size and included two large 100 seat classrooms, an intermediate size classroom accommodating 70 students, a social studies classroom for 32 to 36 people, a primary room and two mathematics classrooms of the same size, 16 seminar rooms seating 18 and a lecture theatre seating 325. A Science Instruction Centre in the building provides instruction in Methodology and subject matter in the fields of General Science, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Included in the unit were two General Science laboratory-classrooms, a Physics and Chemistry laboratory-classroom, and a Biology laboratory-classroom, each with an intended capacity of 30 to 35 students. A Physical Education Centre is also located in the building. It consists of a 120' x 100' gymnasium with bleacher seating for 400 to 500 spectators, a 75' x 44' swimming pool, an equipment room, and men’s and women’s shower and locker rooms. The Instructional Resources Centre contains a Reserve Library initially of 10,000 volumes with study space for 400 students, a curriculum library of 2,000 volumes with study space for 300 students, and an Instructional Resources laboratory. The Education Television Centre in the building includes two small production studios, a conference room, a photographic dark room and laboratory, a large storage room, a graphic arts area and a mobile production unit garage. The Television Centre was initially meant to provide a central facility for the production of University programs “until such time as a separate facility for this purpose can be constructed”. Renovations to the building to accommodate the Music Department were completed prior to 1978 for $730,000. The renovations were designed by architects Forrester, Scott, Bowers, Cooper, and Walls. Tenders for the project were received on April 4, 1975 at which time the contract was awarded to Shoquist Construction. Renovations to the building envelope were completed in 1986 by R & D Construction for $325,918, and were designed by the architectural firm of Scott Bowers. A building envelope is and includes everything that separates the interior of a building from the outdoor environment, including the windows, walls, foundation, basement slab, ceiling, roof, and insulation. In 1990 further renovations to the building were completed by Inter-City Mechanical for $144,686.

Elevated view of steel structure being erected next to Chemistry Building; crane ar left. Winter scene.

Bio/Historical Note: The Chemistry Building was enlarged with an addition and was renamed in honour of Dr. Thorbergur Thorvaldson, professor and dean of Chemistry from 1919-1959. The Thorvaldson Building opened on 6 June 1966. Architect John B. Parkin’s modern design continued with exterior stone cladding. The near windowless, stone three-storey addition provided classrooms, undergraduate and research laboratories, offices, a library and service facilities.

Looking northeast at students crossing the street in front of the south wing of the Murray Library; Chemistry (Thorvaldson) Building in background.

Bio/Historical Note: Though the first recorded withdrawal from the University Library occurred in October 1909, nearly five decades passed before the Library had its own building. The early collection was housed either on the second floor of the College Building (later known as the Administration Building) or was scattered among a number of small departmental libraries. Plans for a new library building in the late 1920s were ended by the start of the Great Depression; but a dramatically reduced acquisitions budget was offset by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation in 1933. In 1943 the University hired its first professional Librarian. A combination of provincial grants and University fundraising financed the construction of the Murray Memorial Library. The library was named after the University’s first President, Walter C. Murray. Designed by noted Regina architect Kioshi Izumi working under H.K. Black, Architect, it marked a change in campus architecture away from the more angular and elaborate Collegiate Gothic style to that of the less expensive cube. Building materials included granite at the entrance and Tyndall stone as a wall cladding and window trim. In addition to the library, the building housed the College of Law, an office of the Provincial Archives and a 105-seat lecture theatre equipped with the latest in audiovisual teaching aids. The most dramatic transformation took place between 1970 and 1976 when a six floor south wing was added along with an extensive renovation of the 1956 structure. Designed by BLM, Regina, the south wing was unlike any other building on campus. Clad in Tyndall stone panels made to look like concrete (through a "bush hammered" finish), the grey almost windowless building is industrial and utilitarian in appearance. The University's master plan required buildings in the core of campus to be clad in stone. However, the "bush hammered" finish was used since the Library addition was built during a period that saw the flowering of "Brutalist" Architecture, so called because of the wide use of exposed concrete. The new (south) wing, originally called the Main Library, was officially opened on 17 May 1974, and also became the home of the Department of Art and Art History, the College of Graduate Studies and the University Archives.

View looking north at the most easterly Memorial Gate.

View looking through [three] doorways at the President's Residence.

Bio/Historical Note: The President’s Residence is among the original buildings constructed on campus. The residence was designed by Brown and Vallance, and was built under the direction of A.R. Greig, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds. The building was originally planned as a wooden structure. However, a proposal to construct the building out of a local river rock, later known as greystone, was raised prior to the commencement of construction - if the government would foot the bill. Eventually the latter material was chosen, though the government perhaps came to regret its decision. Construction on the President's Residence began in 1910 and finished in early 1913. By the time it was completed the original cost for the building had ballooned from $32,000 to $44,615. Walter Murray, the first president of the University, was deeply embarrassed by the cost of what was to be his personal residence, even though it was also a public building. However, the people of Saskatoon were proud of the building and the status it gave their University, and no public outcry over the cost ever materialized. Renovations to the President's Residence were completed in 1989 by PCL-Maxam at a cost of $96,752. The renovations were designed by architects Malkin/Edwards.

Image of hallway at the President's Residence.

Bio/Historical Note: The President’s Residence is among the original buildings constructed on campus. The residence was designed by Brown and Vallance, and was built under the direction of A.R. Greig, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds. The building was originally planned as a wooden structure. However, a proposal to construct the building out of a local river rock, later known as greystone, was raised prior to the commencement of construction - if the government would foot the bill. Eventually the latter material was chosen, though the government perhaps came to regret its decision. Construction on the President's Residence began in 1910 and finished in early 1913. By the time it was completed the original cost for the building had ballooned from $32,000 to $44,615. Walter Murray, the first president of the University, was deeply embarrassed by the cost of what was to be his personal residence, even though it was also a public building. However, the people of Saskatoon were proud of the building and the status it gave their University, and no public outcry over the cost ever materialized. Renovations to the President's Residence were completed in 1989 by PCL-Maxam at a cost of $96,752. The renovations were designed by architects Malkin/Edwards.

Image of stairwell at the President's Residence.

Bio/Historical Note: The President’s Residence is among the original buildings constructed on campus. The residence was designed by Brown and Vallance, and was built under the direction of A.R. Greig, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds. The building was originally planned as a wooden structure. However, a proposal to construct the building out of a local river rock, later known as greystone, was raised prior to the commencement of construction - if the government would foot the bill. Eventually the latter material was chosen, though the government perhaps came to regret its decision. Construction on the President's Residence began in 1910 and finished in early 1913. By the time it was completed the original cost for the building had ballooned from $32,000 to $44,615. Walter Murray, the first president of the University, was deeply embarrassed by the cost of what was to be his personal residence, even though it was also a public building. However, the people of Saskatoon were proud of the building and the status it gave their University, and no public outcry over the cost ever materialized. Renovations to the President's Residence were completed in 1989 by PCL-Maxam at a cost of $96,752. The renovations were designed by architects Malkin/Edwards.