Description of Historic Place

The Old Brick School is a Municipal Heritage Property occupying a 0.9-hectare portion of a large municipal lot at 300 - 3rd Avenue, in the Town of Dundurn. The property features a two-storey brick building with a prominent bell tower, constructed in 1916, fronted by well-maintained, spacious grounds.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of The Old Brick School resides in its association with education in the Town of Dundurn. Constructed in 1916 when the population of Dundurn outgrew one- and two-room schoolhouses, the building served to educate several generations of young people over a period of 6½ decades. Grades 1 through 12 were accommodated in its four classrooms, plus two basement playrooms. In 1952, a fifth classroom was added, and the building continued to serve as a school until 1980, when the new Dundurn Elementary School was opened next door. Since 1981, the building has remained in use for a variety of community activities and is still a focal point of town life, holding a commanding position on landscaped grounds at one end of the main street running through the centre of Dundurn. Besides serving as the Town Office and meeting space, it continues to fill an educational function, housing the town library and a preschool classroom.

Heritage value also resides in the building's unique architecture, with several distinctive features, including finely detailed brickwork and the unconventional placement of its windows. Most of the windows are arrayed on the rear and the south-facing side, while the front, with very few windows, is adorned instead with graduated layers of recessed, geometrically arranged brickwork. Horizontal bands of brickwork climbing up the building’s four corners serve to emphasize the strong lines of the structure, as does its boldly projecting wood cornice, whose green colour contrasts with the subtler buff shades of the brickwork. The rear of the building features a fire-escape chute that projects dramatically from the upper storey. Atop the flat roof, a central-front bell tower stands out prominently, with narrow white columns, brickwork corners, and a pyramidal peaked roof with projecting eaves and topped by a lightning rod. Noteworthy interior features include wood doors and staircases throughout the building, built-in wood shelving on the main and second floors, wood flooring in the upper storey, and wainscotting in the basement. With its exterior presenting an image of straight lines and solidity that reflects the building’s long history as an educational institution, it still bears the words “Dundurn S.D. No. 344, 1916” boldly engraved above the front entrance.

Source:

Town of Dundurn Bylaw No. 1-82.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of The Old Brick School resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect its use as a school, including the signage, built-in shelving and cupboards, and the bell tower with its white columns and lightning rod;
-those elements that relate to its unique architectural design, including the intricately detailed, geometrically arranged brickwork and the distinctive placement of windows;
-distinctive interior features including the wooden staircases, doors, flooring, and wainscotting;
-those elements that contribute to the building’s appearance of strength and firmness, including the overall massing of the two-storey, rectangular structure and the boldly projecting cornice;
-the building's location on its original site on spacious, landscaped grounds in a commanding position at one end of the main street running through the centre of town.