First border lighting, and glimpse of the auditorium from the stage of the Greystone Theatre

Seating at the Greystone Theatre on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan.

Interior view of seating and curtained walls at Greystone Theatre

Looking northwest across the Bowl at the Geology Building under construction.

Bio/Historical Note: The construction of the Geology Building marked a return to the early style of campus architecture. The Department of Geology had been formed in 1927 and for the next six decades was based in the east wing of the Engineering Building. A growing faculty and student population had forced the department to cobble together makeshift accommodation in trailers and remote campus buildings. Designed by the architectural firm Black, McMillan and Larson of Regina, the building was given a neo-Collegiate Gothic exterior to blend harmoniously with the other buildings in the central campus. The two-and-a-half-storey building was erected just south or the Bowl side of the W.P. Thompson Biology Building, providing 8,543 square metres for office, laboratory, library, classroom, and storage space for rock and fossil samples. The exterior was clad with greystone and dressed with tyndal limestone. The dominant feature of the interior was a two-story atrium that featured the mosaics for the former exterior walls of the Thompson Building, a life-size skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex and geological and biological displays. The $18.5 million Geology Building was completed in 1988 and fused the space between Physics and Biology and linked, through a walkway, with Chemistry, creating an integrated science complex on campus.

View of the soundboard used at the Greystone Theatre, on campus at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

View of exterior of the new addition of the Linear Accelerator Building.

Bio/Historical Note: The building of the Linear Accelerator (Linac) was not a random event but rather the result of a series of developments on campus. The Department of Physics had over the previous decades built a reputation for experimentation and innovation. The post-war period saw the University of Saskatchewan in the forefront of nuclear physics in Canada. In 1948, Canada’s first betatron (and the world’s first used in the treatment of cancer) was installed on campus. It was used for research programs in nuclear physics, radiation chemistry, cancer therapy and radiation biology. Next the world’s first non-commercial cobalt-60 therapy unit for the treatment of cancer was officially opened in 1951. With this unit research was undertaken in the areas of radiological physics, radiation chemistry and the effects of high energy radiation on plants and animals. When the construction of the Linear Accelerator was announced in the fall of 1961, it was portrayed as the next logical step on the University’s research path. Varian Associates, Palo Alto, California, designed and built the accelerator with Poole Construction of Saskatoon employed as the general contractor. The 80 foot electron accelerator tube was to create energy six times that of the betatron. The cost of the $1,750,000 facility was split between the National Research Council and the University of Saskatchewan with the NRC meeting the cost of the equipment and the University assuming the costs of the building. The official opening in early November of 1964 was more than just a few speeches and the cutting of a ribbon. It was a physics-fest, with 75 visiting scientist from around the world in attendance presenting papers and giving lectures over the period of several days. Three eminent physicists were granted honorary degrees at the fall convocation and hundreds of people showed up for the public open house. For three decades the Linac has served the campus research community and will continue to do so as it has become incorporated into the Canadian Light Source synchrotron.

Geology Building under construction; winter scene.

Bio/Historical Note: The construction of the Geology Building marked a return to the early style of campus architecture. The Department of Geology had been formed in 1927 and for the next six decades was based in the east wing of the Engineering Building. A growing faculty and student population had forced the department to cobble together makeshift accommodation in trailers and remote campus buildings. Designed by the architectural firm Black, McMillan and Larson of Regina, the building was given a neo-Collegiate Gothic exterior to blend harmoniously with the other buildings in the central campus. The two-and-a-half-storey building was erected just south or the Bowl side of the W.P. Thompson Biology Building, providing 8,543 square metres for office, laboratory, library, classroom, and storage space for rock and fossil samples. The exterior was clad with greystone and dressed with tyndal limestone. The dominant feature of the interior was a two-story atrium that featured the mosaics for the former exterior walls of the Thompson Building, a life-size skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex and geological and biological displays. The $18.5 million Geology Building was completed in 1988 and fused the space between Physics and Biology and linked, through a walkway, with Chemistry, creating an integrated science complex on campus.

Image of excavation for foundation of the Geology Building. Chemistry (Thorvaldson) Building at left.

Bio/Historical Note: The construction of the Geology Building marked a return to the early style of campus architecture. The Department of Geology had been formed in 1927 and for the next six decades was based in the east wing of the Engineering Building. A growing faculty and student population had forced the department to cobble together makeshift accommodation in trailers and remote campus buildings. Designed by the architectural firm Black, McMillan and Larson of Regina, the building was given a neo-Collegiate Gothic exterior to blend harmoniously with the other buildings in the central campus. The two-and-a-half-storey building was erected just south or the Bowl side of the W.P. Thompson Biology Building, providing 8,543 square metres for office, laboratory, library, classroom, and storage space for rock and fossil samples. The exterior was clad with greystone and dressed with tyndal limestone. The dominant feature of the interior was a two-story atrium that featured the mosaics for the former exterior walls of the Thompson Building, a life-size skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex and geological and biological displays. The $18.5 million Geology Building was completed in 1988 and fused the space between Physics and Biology and linked, through a walkway, with Chemistry, creating an integrated science complex on campus.

Image of students at work in the new offices of the University of Saskatchewan newspaper, The Sheaf.

Students sitting in the Bowl in front of the Administration Building during Frosh Week.

Interior view of St. Thomas More College Chapel. View from back of chapel looking toward front.

Bio/Historical Note: Saint Thomas More College (STM) has the distinction of being the first and only federated college at the University of Saskatchewan. It was established as a Catholic college in 1936 following negotiations between Fr. Henry Carr of the Basilian Fathers of Toronto and President Walter Murray of the University of Saskatchewan, and was named for Thomas More, who had been canonized in 1935. Yet the pre-history of the college and its buildings goes back more than a decade earlier. For several years, Saskatoon Catholics had been asking for a Catholic college at the newly established University of Saskatchewan. The first step was taken in 1926, when a group of Catholic laymen established the Newman Society, with the long term goal of establishing a Catholic college at the university. By September of that year, "arrangements were in place for Fr. Dr. Basil Markle from the Archdiocese of Toronto to teach Scholastic Philosophy at the University of Saskatchewan and to serve as chaplain for the Catholic students." The first facility for the Catholic chaplain, with chapel and clubrooms for the use of the Catholic students, was Newman Hall (usually called "the white house"), built in 1927 on land on the south side of the campus at the corner of College Drive and Bottomley Avenue. This building later became St. Thomas More College in 1936 and in 1943 it was enlarged in anticipation of an expected large influx of students when the war would end. The first section of the present greystone building was constructed in 1954-1956 at a cost of $600,000; it was designed by architects Webster and Gilbert and built by Shannon Brothers of Saskatoon, for whom the college's Shannon Library is named. The new building was officially opened on 7 February 1957. Subsequent additions to the college building were completed in two phases, one in 1963 and another in 1969. This three-stage period of construction on the building translated into well over a decade of constant construction between 1954 and 1969, and included a chapel, library, cafeteria, auditorium, faculty offices, classrooms, and an art gallery. Living quarters on the third and fourth floors, used by the Basilian Fathers for many years, have been converted to offices and classroom space in recent years. Renovations since 2000 have involved changes to the auditorium, cafeteria, student and faculty lounges, library, art gallery and the rededication of some areas to use as classrooms.

Interior view of the President's Residence; possibly an office.

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.

Interior view of the [dining room] 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.

Looking west at The Rutherford 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.

Exterior view of Saskatchewan Hall on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan