Description of Historic Place

Parkside Public School and Grounds is a Municipal Heritage Property located on a plot of land bounded by First and Second Avenues and First and Second Street West in the Village of Parkside. The property features a schoolhouse with red-brick veneer constructed in 1920, with a significant addition in 1954, set in a park established in 1906.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Parkside Public School and Grounds lies in its association with public education in Parkside and district. Parkside Public School was the second school built on this property. The first, Idylwood School, was built in 1906 and served Parkside and district students until 1920, when Parkside Public School was completed. Parkside Public School was expanded from two classrooms to four classrooms in 1954. The additional classrooms expanded the class offerings at the school from grades 1-8 to grades 1-11, with some grade 12 classes offered in some years. Due to declining enrolments, the school was closed in 1979.

The heritage value of Parkside Public School and Grounds also lies in its status as a local landmark. The property features one of the longest continuously-used civic spaces, and one of the oldest buildngs, in the Parkside area. The grounds have been used for social, educational and recreational purposes since being set aside in 1906. After the school closed in 1979, Parkside Public School was re-named the Parkside Heritage Centre. In the same year it was converted to accommodate a senior citizens’ centre and a community hall, roles which the building continues to serve today.

The heritage value of the property also lies in the architecture. The two-classroom section of the building built in 1920 was constructed by local contractors J. Franzen and A. Johnson according to standard Department of Education school plan 222B70. The school blended traditional town-school materials such as brick, stone and concrete with the influence of the arts and crafts style, popular during the 1920s.

Source:

Village of Parkside Bylaw 1-82.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Parkside Public School and Grounds lies in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect the property’s association with education in the area, such as the original sign reading “Public School” above the main entrance to the original two-classroom section of the building;
-those elements that reflect the property’s position as a community landmark, including its position on its original location, and the large open grassed area surrounded by trees;
-those elements that reflect the property’s arts and crafts-influenced architecture, such as the red-brick veneer, the horizontal orientation of the structure, the low pitched, half-hip roof with stucco and half-timbered ends, projecting eaves, and rooms projecting outside the body of the building covered by low-pitched gable and shed roofs.