Saskatchewan builds a dedicated training school in Moose Jaw for persons diagnosed with mental disabilities

1949 to 1950. In late 1949 and into early 1950, under the guidance of Donald McKerracher, the new director of psychiatric services, and Premier Tommy Douglas, the Saskatchewan government set out to build a training school in Moose Jaw. The aim of this new school was straightforward: house and assist in the development of persons diagnosed with mental disabilities.

To begin the task, in 1949, the government commissioned Regina architect H. K. Black to draft a design for the training school that differentiated it from the province’s existing mental hospitals. Being an architect, and not a physician or psychiatrist, Black did not attempt this endeavor on his own. Considering the school’s prospective residents, he needed help, or at the very least advice, from people trained in the medical profession. As such, Alston G. Gutterson, the then architectural consultant for the American Psychiatric Association, along with Dr. A. J. Baddie, the soon to be superintendent of the school, and Dr. R. O. Davison, a former mental hospital superintendent helped with much of the original planning of the school layout.

It only took a year after accepting the commission before Black and associates returned to the government with a completed design. Satisfied with what Black presented, the government set out to acquire land upon which to build the new school. It settled on an 800-acre plot of land a mile south of the city of Moose Jaw and by 1950 begun awarding major contracts to construction companies. On October 17, 1950, the government held a small commencement ceremony celebrating the ground breaking of the site. Five years and $8 million after that, the government was ready to receive patients into its newest training school. The school was something the Douglas and his government could be proud of, for at that time, according to Don Black, contributor to Worth magazine, the Saskatchewan Training School “was one of the largest single construction projects yet to be undertaken by the provincial government.” (Black, 2011, 16)

-Blaine Wickham

  • Wickham, B. (2012, September). Valley View Centre Moose Jaw: Report prepared for the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport. Retrieved from http://www.tpcs.gov.sk.ca/VVC

  • Black, D. (2011, Spring) Form Follows Function. Worth: Saskatchewan’s Architectural Heritage Magazine, 12-16.

Saskatchewan builds a dedicated training school in Moose Jaw for persons diagnosed with mental disabilities

1949 to 1950. In late 1949 and into early 1950, under the guidance of Donald McKerracher, the new director of psychiatric services, and Premier Tommy Douglas, the Saskatchewan government set out to build a training school in Moose Jaw. The aim of this new school was straightforward: house and assist in the development of persons diagnosed with mental disabilities.

To begin the task, in 1949, the government commissioned Regina architect H. K. Black to draft a design for the training school that differentiated it from the province’s existing mental hospitals. Being an architect, and not a physician or psychiatrist, Black did not attempt this endeavor on his own. Considering the school’s prospective residents, he needed help, or at the very least advice, from people trained in the medical profession. As such, Alston G. Gutterson, the then architectural consultant for the American Psychiatric Association, along with Dr. A. J. Baddie, the soon to be superintendent of the school, and Dr. R. O. Davison, a former mental hospital superintendent helped with much of the original planning of the school layout.

It only took a year after accepting the commission before Black and associates returned to the government with a completed design. Satisfied with what Black presented, the government set out to acquire land upon which to build the new school. It settled on an 800-acre plot of land a mile south of the city of Moose Jaw and by 1950 begun awarding major contracts to construction companies. On October 17, 1950, the government held a small commencement ceremony celebrating the ground breaking of the site. Five years and $8 million after that, the government was ready to receive patients into its newest training school. The school was something the Douglas and his government could be proud of, for at that time, according to Don Black, contributor to Worth magazine, the Saskatchewan Training School “was one of the largest single construction projects yet to be undertaken by the provincial government.” (Black, 2011, 16)

-Blaine Wickham

  • Wickham, B. (2012, September). Valley View Centre Moose Jaw: Report prepared for the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport. Retrieved from http://www.tpcs.gov.sk.ca/VVC

  • Black, D. (2011, Spring) Form Follows Function. Worth: Saskatchewan’s Architectural Heritage Magazine, 12-16.