St. Ann's Academy (Victoria, British Columbia)

St. Ann’s Academy
Main building
General information
Architectural style	French Canadian - Quebec Provincial
Location	835 Humboldt Street
Town or city	Victoria, BC
Country	Canada
Construction started	1858 Chapel 1871 School 1886 & 1909 Convent
Client	Sisters of Saint Ann
National Historic Site of Canada
Official name	St. Ann's Academy National Historic Site of Canada
Designated	1989

St. Ann’s Academy was commissioned by the Roman Catholic women’s order of the Sisters of St. Ann of Lachine, Quebec. The chapel was built in 1858 and is the oldest part of the Academy. The chapel was the original St. Andrew's Cathedral (Victoria, British Columbia). The chapel was later moved from its original location, encased in brick, and became the ’heart’ of the newly built school of St. Ann’s Academy (1871). Later a Convent was added (1886) to the west side of the Academy and behind the Academy (1909). St. Ann’s Academy was an all-girls Catholic school and convent. It also functioned as a residential school for First Nations girls from 1863 until the 1970s. The girls were forcibly brought to the convent, indoctrinated in Catholicism and European customs, and forced to abandon their language and heritage. It was Victoria's largest residential school.

I attended St Ann's from 1966 until 1974 and I never saw evidence of it being a residential school. I remember one student who I knew was First Nations and her name was Kerry Hall. She had been adopted by the art teacher Ruth Hall.

The Sisters of St. Ann closed the Academy and in 1974 sold the property to the provincial government of British Columbia which used it as office space for the public service for a few years, but it was in need of major repairs and had to be closed. Years-long civic debate of diverse proposals for the future of the building and site ensued.

Placed under the stewardship of the Provincial Capital Commission, the interior of the building was gutted and rebuilt, basement to attic, providing seismic upgrade and rehabilitation into modern office space. Once completed, the majority of the building was leased to the BC Ministry of Advanced Education, a use consistent with the Sisters' aims. The exterior facade of his heritage building was retained and repaired. The chapel, parlours and infirmary were retained as an interpretive centre and restored to their 1920s decor. The auditorium at the other end of the building was also seismically upgraded and restored and is used for public lectures and concerts. The building was re-opened in 1997.

The chapel was de-consecrated when the Sisters sold the property. Since the restoration of the chapel and the adjacent Novitiate Garden, these have been in great demand as a venue for weddings and other functions.

An annex behind the main building which had been occupied by the Victoria Conservatory of Music was demolished in 2000 following the Conservatory's move to the former Metropolitan United Church buildings. The cleared site became green space, blending the Academy grounds with the adjacent Beacon Hill Park.

Plaques & Signage

Andrew Petter, Minister Responsible for the Provincial Capital Commission, proposal to restore St. Ann's, at a cost of $16.7 million.

• St. Ann's Academy signage.JPG

  entrance signage

• St. Ann's plaque1.JPG

  re-opening plaque

• St. Ann's plaque2.JPG

  Historic Sites & Monuments of Canada

• St. Ann's plaque4.JPG

  information plaque

• St. Ann's plaque6.JPG

  iron gate

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  Signage of pedestrian map

Architecture

St. Ann’s Academy is an excellent example of Victoria's Quebec Colonial style architecture.

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  main building

• St. Ann's Academy2.JPG

  at night

• St. Ann's Academy stairways.JPG

  stairway entrance

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  backyard

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  west wing addition

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  west wing annex

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  main drive way

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  two styles

The Chapel

St. Ann's Chapel was the original St. Andrew's Cathedral of the city of Victoria. The chapel of St. Andrew’s was designed by Brother (later Father) Michaud of the Clerics of Saint Viator.

• St. Andrew's chapel1.JPG

  St. Ann's Chapel

• St. Andrew's chapel2.JPG

  the altar

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  Casavant Frères organ, opus 516, built for the chapel in 1913

• St. Andrew's chapel5.JPG

  stained glass window

• St. Andrew's chapel4.JPG

  Anne & Joachim teaching Mary; main art piece

• St. Andrew's chapel6.JPG

  main painting
  close-up

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  Painting of the young Jesus in the temple, "Stupebant Omnes Qui Eum Audiebant"

• St. Andrew's chapel8.JPG

  Annunciation painting, "Ecce Ancilla Domini"

Other art works

The Sisters of Saint Ann had a cemetery at the Academy, where many of the first sisters were buried. In 1908, the Sisters were buried at plot in Ross Bay Cemetery. Later, the Sisters that were buried at the convent cemetery were moved to Ross Bay Cemetery upon the closure of the Academy in 1974.

Many of the stained glass windows were vandalized during its time of abandonment, and had to be rebuilt during the reconstruction.

Sister Mary Osithe was the painter of 'The Immaculate Conception' painting that sits in the Sisters waiting room. Sister Mary Osithe also went on to design the Little Flower Academy school in Vancouver.

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  garden niche of Mary where the cemetery used to be.

• Stain glass door window.JPG

  rebuilt stain glass window door to the chapel.

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  'Immaculate Conception' by Sister Mary Osithe Labossière of the Academy.

See also

• List of oldest buildings in Canada
• List of historic places in Victoria, British Columbia
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria in Canada
• Little Flower Academy
• Sisters of Saint Ann

External links

• St. Ann's Academy - official website
• Sisters of St. Ann - founding order
• Catholic Diocese of Victoria
• Historic Sites & Monuments Board of Canada - Reason for designation